Infinite Stratos: Infinite Possibilities
by judasuu
Summary: A remake of Infinite Stratos with some resemblance to some of the modern day Gundam series, mostly about events of the novel and... the rest is up to you to see, enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**Infinite Stratos: Infinite Possibilities**

**Chapter 1: The Zero Theory**

...In a living room...

"Good evening, tonight's live news is about the first male who has ever piloted an IS, Orimura Ichika. He's-"

"Huh? I-Ichika? He's on T.V.!" Houki Shinonono watches the t.v. in the living room after practicing a bit with her usual kendo style, that and many other things that they do in the nearby dojo, they are frequently practicing the method of using a kendo with an IS involved in it, but casting that aside, Houki stood up from the sofa with her eyes glued on the t.v. "Why is Ichika on t.v.!"

"We are to discuss the current situation of Orimura Ichika, it was a big hit to all of us when we found out he can pilot an IS, an extraordinary thing indeed, it was never confirmed by the IS creater, Shinonono Tabane, that IS are only piloted by women and this sudden turn of events is rather a sudden swell of questions for all media and-"

"Nevermind about the IS, show me Ichika!"

"It has been announced recently that Orimura will be attending at the IS academy for study and to learn just how far will he go in manuevering an IS, it was said he was to given a personal IS of his own that was once owned by his older sibling, Orimura Chifuyu."

"Chifuyu... -san." Houki knows her, she gets along well sometime with her due to perhaps Chifuyu Orimura's connection with her older sister, Tabane.

"The IS institution will be opening soon will it? What will this mean for Orimura? And what does-"

...At the Orimura Residence...

"Don't they have other things in mind?" Ichika lays his head at the back of the sofa, staring at the ceiling. "Where did my normal life go? _Sigh,_ oh well, well then, what should I have for dinner?"

"There's no need for that, you'll be having dinner at the academy once we arrived there." A uniform is thrown at his face by the one who came in.

"Huh? C-Chifuyu-nee! You're... You're back so early?"

"This is my house so of course I'll be back." This is Chifuyu Orimura, the former champion of the Mondo Grosso, the IS tournament, and now an instructor at the IS academy that is on an offshore island that is just near the mainland, it's where a lot of girls... given that IS are only operated by women, it's an all-girls school with Ichika being the first to be the male student there and even the staff themselves are... well, majority... no, _all_ of them are women, making it a one-man-army situation for Ichika, from his perspective that is. "Sa, hurry up and get packed up, we'll leave first thing in the morning." It's already just about 7 p.m. in the evening by the way, it will be about... well, given that Chifuyu doesn't wish for some crazy paparazzis to show up and suddenly ask questions for Ichika and her, she's in a hurry to enroll her younger brother to the IS academy, and by early in the morning, she'll be the only one leaving the house since... well, Ichika will be going to the academy as of this moment, while she has some things to pack here.

"Huh? First... thing in..."

"Ah, all of your belongings will be transported there in the morning so just stick to Yamada's instructions."

"Yamada?"

"She's an assistant homeroom teacher of mine, she'll be the one supervising you while I give you all a lesson about a thing or two about how IS armaments are used."

"Oh, ugh." Ichika is obviously a stranger to all that sort of thing so this will be a new experience for him.

"Sa, hurry up, I'll take you to the station and you can go to the academy all by yourself then right?"

"Ah well, yeah, I can but..." Not wanting himself to a burden to his hardworking sister, he does wish he can do something for her, though Chifuyu herself has no problem of doing all the political work or problems for him given that she's quite... well, devoted, one might put it, to him to the point that she only wants him to do his part, meaning staying safe from political issues and any other things... like...

...In an underground laboratory...

_Click, click. _The sound of buttons being pushed are echoing in this lab. There is only one person here who is dressed in a maid with a bunny ears, on her head that is. "Hm, this is bad, Chi-chan is better be informed of this." She's checking something through the satalite camera that was invested by some wisemen in the past, the one she's monitoring is...

...In the deep level of the sea, at an underground passage...

"Grooaarr!"

"Grooaarr!" A bunch of damaged IS are still functioning, most of which are not being empowered by a core or anything else that is related to how the IS are supposed to work but... They are being empowered by...

_Blaast! Blaaze! _"Grooaarr!" By a more powerful source and something that is not... well, it's an extraordinary being that can be considered... a devil. "Grooaarr!" Outside the passage and on the sea level, stands a dragon like machine that is also considered an IS, except it doesn't have anything that is empowering it but rather, this being can be considered something that is alive, it hungers, it taints and it brings damaged IS to life with unnatural means, it's sending out nanomachines that can raise the dead and corrupt IS programming into killing machines. That and many other things that is involve in corrupting everything in their path. "Grooaarr! Grooaarr!" _Blaaze! Stomp, stomp! _With a violent stomp that sent a tremor on the passage, all the IS that are under it's command walk towards the surface with who knows how long are they going to reach the surface. "Grooaarr!" _Blaast! Blaaze! _The dragon like machine that is known as the Devil IS flew out of the top of the passage with it going through the water in the sea, it's heading towards the tunnel where a military base is located.

...Inside a monorail...

"_Sigh, _so it's still late at night and I'm the only one who is a passenger here, _sigh, _Chifuyu-nee sure didn't waste any time enrolling me to IS academy." Ichika could see the sight of IS academy from where he is, it's a huge island shore where it's consists of advanced technology, as expected of today's era, it's more on machines now instead of... well, modern day's machines and technology, basically the same, with this kind of institution, children can learn how to operate an IS and also, they can still learn about the subject of learning that is being taught in normal schools as well, not that IS academy is not a normal school in a way but rather, in here... it's rather lively and at the same time, arrogant and dreamy at the same time, as the power balance of men and women have been broken, it would seem men have been outstripped when it comes to superiority and women have become generally arrogant towards them, that is the way how both genders are treated nowadays as women frankly have taken over most governing militaries around the world, well, that and some political men are the only ones who are supervising the development of IS and how they are operated, as of right now, the media is seeking Tabane endlessly and restlessly but so far, she's very elusive about her whereabouts. That and many other things that are currently in involvement with some things that are sort of threatening the world's economy and politics at the moment. "Come to think of it, there has been some tension at the borders right now, isn't it?" What Ichika is referring to is the unrest that is growing in the country side, something is going on to the lands around, crops are becoming desolate, not even a slight plantation is becoming fertile and the worst of it all, famine may spread to some countries, the worst of it all originated in London as the natural resources have been affected by something that is yet to be confirmed, though some confirmed that the land is decaying for some reason and the origins of something that is like a blight is yet to be confirmed. "Things are becoming serious, I better... Hm? Oh, my stop is here."

"IS academy, IS academy."

Ichika stepped out of the train with some stuff, he's not really much of a tourist and of course, this isn't some tourist visit but the stuff he's carrying are mostly some things like toothbrush, though that is a bit unnecessary as IS academy have their own materials for basic needs and other kind of related stuff. "Sa, according to this map, I should... Hm, let's see..." There are a lot of things that can be regarded as skyscraper here, a lot of things are advanced in technology, not even... well, a slightest seems to be not something what one sees in normal homes, meaning everything here is... are all... beyond one's comprehension if one is new here. "..." Ichika suddenly feels like he has been damned to a place where there is only one entrance and... there is no exit. "Ugh, I didn't know it was this easy to get lost." Even the map that was given to him was not enough, besides, there are only outlines of the layout of this place, it's only... well, all the shapes and ways are all very... vague, if one can put it since all directions are all labelled in the same manner it's like going around in circles if one only relies on the map, so in that case... "Let's see, hm, the registar should be there... there... there... Ugh, where am I going?" A lot of girls have taken notice of his presence.

"Who is that? A boy?"

"Why is he here?"

"Is that a male version of the uniforms?"

"..." Ichika stands amidst the passing people, he's feeling uncomfortable so he left.

"Ah, you're Orimura Ichika yes? The one that Orimura-sensei informed me with, yes that is so, it match your description very clearly." A young looking teacher or instructor, they're the same, came up to him.

"Huh? Oh uh, do I..."

"Oh sorry, I forgot to introduce myself," She bows in apology repeatedly.

"Uh no, you don't have to apologize I mean, were you asked to greet me?"

"H-Hai, w-wata shi Yamada Maya, the homeroom teacher of class One, nice to meet you." She's rather cute from one's perspective but, the fidget in her voice make her sort of vulnerable, meaning she easily broke into nervous speech just like she just did with Ichika.

"Uh yeah, I'm Orimura Ichika and Chifuyu-nee is..."

"Oh you do know her, that means you're her brother! That means it's my job to escort you to the dormitory."

"Eh? The dormitory?"

"Hai, we've been expecting you, there's no need to go to the registrar's office, please follow me."

"H-Hai, I'll be in your care."

The two of them made their way throughout the horde of girls that came passing by, it's an all-girls school so this is to be expected. "Hey, isn't that guy pretty good looking?"

"Where did he came from?"

"Why is there a male here?"

"..." Ichika feels uncomfortable with all the stares that he's receiving, they're like lasers that are piercing through his back and his shirt is being melt in the process, this is sort of like the same as smelting a- Well, nevermind about that, Ichika and Yamada-sensei just passed by the corridor followed by a long hallway that Ichika has thought of the academy to be very large indeed, this is almost like an island academy of sort, where all sort of needs are tended despite how large it is, well, many women out there are able to train and study the basic manuevers of IS and there are those who represent their countries, these are the representatives who have personal IS, Chifuyu has her own as well until she retired and she is now an instructor instead.

"Well, Orimura-kun, as you may have noticed, there are a lot of facilities here that you might find suitable when you attend your first day here."

"H-Hai, I will... uh..." It's not that he minds this tour of sort but rather, it's the girls that has been tailing for some time now, is this supposed to be like a tailing mission where one will gather all sort of information about the target? In the army, assassination missions required a lot of diligence and resourcefullness about gathering info at first then strike next, there are also scouting and sniping missions that requires... ah, nevermind, about the situation.

"Sa te, Orimura-kun, these are the dormitories of our students, there was one room that was assigned to you and- Hm? Wh-What is it?"

"Uh well..." This is no longer a mission without being blown in their cover as... well, all girls behind are visible in plain sight.

"Hm, he's going to the dormitories."

"Hm, you think he's..."

"Eh... E-Everyone, wh-what are you doing here?" Yamada-sensei herself feels more uncomfortable than Ichika in this situation.

"Ah, Yamada-san, we were wondering what's with all these unordinary events and we find you escorting someone."

"Yes, yes, a boy for that matter!"

"..." Ichika is rather eery at this, not only he's in an isolated island that is full of residents that are females with him being the only male, he's also unfamiliar with things around here like... well, this will be his first time dealing with IS, meaning he's all too unfamiliar with all the circuits, formula routine and all that kind of stuff but... the biggest problem is...

"Who are you? Where did you came from?"

"Yeah, are you here for a tour visit?"

"Which country did you-"

"..." All questions are barging into his ears all at once, the girls all gather around him with curious and interest.

"U-Um, everyone, p-please clear out, there's... um... there's nothing to-" _Shake, shake! _

"Huh?"

"Huh?" The ground shakes, signifying of...

"What the...?" _Cruulch! Growl! Stomp! _

"Waah!"

"What in the...?" A black IS unit without anyone operating it appeared out of the ground in the campus, it's quite gigantic in size and it seems to be well equiped. "What's going...?" Ichika asked.

"A-A... An unmanned drone!" Yamada-sensei said.

"Eh?"

"E-Everyone, clear out please! It's too dangerous!"

_Stomp, stomp. _The unmanned IS as Yamada-sensei would put it turn to the lots of crowd, specifically the one where Ichika is located. Its sensor is directed towards him. "Target: Confirmed." It said raising its hand with a cannon on it, it charges forth some particles of energy.

"E-Everyone duck please!"

"G-Guaah!" Ichika is pushed by Yamada-sensei to the ground.

_Blaast! Boom! _"Gwaah!" The Golem as one can put it, fired at one of the facilities, causing an uproar in the campus.

"W-We better..."

"We better call forth the emergency force!" Everyone started running about.

"I-I better warn the faculty, O-Orimura-kun, please head for the emergency field immediately."

"Eh?"

"Sa, please go ahead without me."

"H-Hey, wait! Where's-! Huh?" Ichika was about to ask where exactly is the specific location he is supposed to go but... Turning to his left, he sees the Golem to be aiming at him. "Wha..."

"Target: Confirmed." _Blaast... _

"Y-Yabe!" He runs at the stairs that leads to the field below but... _Blast! Boom, Boom! _"Wh-Whaa! Ahh! Ow!" He stumbled on the ground below where there is sand as the stairs was blown to pieces by the Golem. "Ow, that... hurt. Huh?" _Stomp, stomp. _The Golem approaches and aims its cannon at him to the ground. _Blaast... _"Y-Yabe! Ah!" He quickly stood up and ran for it. _Blast! Boom! _"Geh, better get out of here." He runs through the hallway that seems to lead into a warehouse of sort, this is most likely a storage for personal equipments for IS. _Tap, tap! _"_Huff, huff, _what's going on out there? Where did that- Huh? That is?" In the middle of this storage, stands an off-line IS, which means it's not operational at the moment. "IS? What is...? Hm?" There's a handprint configuration on a square screen on the sides, it seems to be for verification of identity. "..." Not really know what it is, Ichika placed his hand on it. _Plin. _"Eh?" Something emanated from it, presumably it just verified Ichika as... "What is this...?" _Piing. _"Huh? W-Waah!" Some equipments dragged Ichika onto the IS and is started to scan his face then every part of his body, most likely it's trying to verified whether he is acceptable or not as... "Wh-What is this! Ugh, argh!" _Piin. _

"Scanning, complete."

"Eh? Wha...?"

"Seed Syndrome, confirmed. Activating Zero System."

"Zero... what? Huh?" Ah helmet like apparatus then is equipped on Ichika. All sort of signs and movements are shown, indicating the system's condition and state, all of the preparations are standby and... all systems are green. Golden light emanated in the helmet. "This is..." _Sharp... Sharp! _Then Ichika could have sworn he saw something like a seed being cut in half and a brilliant of light are scattered. "..." His eyes are somewhat become... well, improved if one can put it, and they are quite dark at the moment. "I will..."

"Zero System: On." _Piin. _The lights of the helmet became much more brighter.

"Hm," The IS spread forth some wings that are of light and a saber is ignited on the hand. "I can... do this." Ichika said, all source of information gathers all around his head and his mentality at the moment is at its best. "...Hm." _Whoosh, blaast! _He stormed out of the storage through a take off hallway that is used for take off in this school and then... _Whoosh! _He soon reached the surface where... "Hm," Turning to his right.

"Target confirmed." The Golem is still there and it aims its particle beam cannon towards Ichika.

"Hm," With Ichika's eyes focused on it...

...In the command center...

"Well? How is it?"

"Our deployment forces are yet to react but... Huh?"

"What is it? Is something- Huh?" Yamada and the rest of the faculty staff see a unique sight, an IS on deployment and the one piloting it is... "Orimura... -kun?"

...Back outside...

_Blast! _The Golem fired... "Zero Mode: On."

"...Understood." Ichika said understanding the system's intent, and that is... _Block, Bhrrsh! _He managed to deflect the blast with a barrier shield that is activated by Byakushiki's unique system followed by instructions of the Zero System. "Zero... Infinity."

"Wha... How did he...?" Yamada-sensei and the other staff were in awe of this sight. "Orimura-kun, he..."

"Huh?"

"Wha...?" The other girls in the campus also saw the sight.

"Target: Confirmed." _Blaast... _As the Golem charges more energy particles...

"Hm," _Whoosh, Blaaze! _Ichika took the opportunity to charge forward and... _Slice! Boom! _The beam cannon is destroyed before it finished charging. "Hiyaa!" _Slice! Boom! _Then its arm is cut off.

"System off-line, unable to..."

"Hiyaa!" _Crunch! Crack! _The face of the Golem is smashed, deteriorating it a bit, well, almost it doesn't have a face anymore, not like machines like IS have faces but... well casting that aside... "Hiyaa!" Ichika clenchest his fist that is suited with the IS's claw... then he spread it and aims towards the... "Hiyaa!" _Crunch, Crack! Craack! Crash! _He went through the Golem's core, damaging it... destroying it.

"_Static... Static... _Off... line... Over... load..." _Boom! Boom! _It exploded, leaving particles of its parts all over the ground.

"Wha... S-Sugoi." Yamada-sensei and the rest of the faculty staff saw the entire scenario.

"Th-That boy... is he..."

"Waa..." The girls in campus are in awe.

"...Hm," Ichika, who is still in mid-air, slowly lands on the ground.

"Zero System: Off. Signing Off."

"I... did it." His eyes reverted back to normal color.

End of Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

**Infinite Stratos: Infinite Possibilities**

**Chapter 2: Infinite Redemption**

...At the room 1025...

"..." Ichika lies on the luxurious bed that is provided in this room, there are two in which he can use whatever he wishes, this type of luxury is common here or at least, some of the other rooms have some luxury of their own but this seems to be... special, if one can put it, amongst the rest. "I did... something..."

...Flashback...

"I..." Ichika just piloted Byakushiki in an unknown way as if he just knew how to pilot it through... well, in a sense, something like a miracle happened, the Zero System was something newly discovered to the IS once it was taken back after the battle with the Golem, which is being studied at the moment, there wasn't much information other than the core was corrupted and it was programmed to destroy everything in the academy and it seems to be also programmed something that is considered as the highly evolved mental factor of humans, it means it was designed to specifically destroy someone like Ichika, or at least, that's how they put it when the Golem invaded here.

...Skipping the Flashback...

"After that... I..."

...Flashback...

"Well that was certainly unexpected, you say you piloted my former IS suit with only prior knowledge of how it was supposed to be activated?" Chifuyu arrived at the academy prior to what just happened earlier, during the incident with the Golem that is.

"H... Hai, that's... the only way I can put it." Ichika is here for the questioning regarding what transpired.

"..." There are also some girls snooping outside, they're in the faculty office at the moment and the incident outside sparked a lot of curiosity from the girls, one of them in particular is... "..." Houki Shinonono, she heard of what transpired earlier and could not help but be here and hear about all the hot details, or at least that's how the girls would put it, the club that is supposed to be on the scoop hunt for what happened is being led by someone named Kaoruko Mayuzumi, and they've been snooping around nonstop and soon, all of the entire IS academy knew of what happened, it's like an information swarming all over the campus like a swarm of locust. "..." So far as Houki could interpret the messages, or information in other words, Ichika managed to defeat the Golem that is unmanned drone that has invaded the campus while she was training in the dojo nearby, and then the information about Ichika's arrival came too late to her so she wasn't able to greet him immediately.

"Well, is that all?"

"H-Hai, I don't... I didn't do anything else after that."

"I see, well, that's all I'll be questioning you about, but, I advise you to be careful though, that unmanned drone IS was specifically tasked to kill someone like you, so if I were you, I watch my every back on the corner, specially..." Regarding the horde of girls outside that seems to be eager to see how Ichika exit the faculty... "...Why you all... Anyone caught outside this moment will have 10 laps over the campus if they remain there!"

"Gyaah!" On that signal, of sort, everyone stormed out of the faculty hall, saved for Houki.

"Eh? What was..." Ichika however was oblivious to what just occured.

"Mataku, I have enough idiots to deal with here."

"Eh?"

"Nothing, just something to be mind with, don't let yourself caught up with any crazy groups that are on the hunt for information of what just transpired, you hear me?" Like a big sister worrying about her young brother, Chifuyu instructed him that.

"H-Hai, ja, if you will excuse me." _Slide, slide. _Ichika opened the sliding door then closed it, afterwards, he met with a familiar face.

"Ah."

"Hm? You..."

"..."

"..." Two childhood friends finally meeting once again. "Hou... Houki?"

"Ichika..."

"Houki, that's..."

"Hm,"

"Eh? H-Hey!" She stormed off. "What's with her? Is this how she treats someone she hasn't seen for six years? How cold."

"Hmhm, there he is."

"Ah, Chifuyu Orimura-sensei's little brother."

"What's his name?"

"I believe it's..."

"Oh well, I guess I better look for this room that Chifuyu-nee assigned me to, oh right, I better address her as Orimura-sensei if I don't want to receive a smack on the head. I got two in one day as of today." Right, two smack for addressing her as "Chifuyu-nee", which is sort of like ruining a code around here, it's like a spartan stadium here, in which the rules are very strict that even if you break it even once, expect a slight, or maybe intense, pain to that.

...End of Flashback...

"_Sigh, _that Houki, didn't even talk to me, oh well, I might as well meet her tomorrow once..." _Knock, knock. _"Huh? Who...?" _Knock, knock. _

"Um, Ichika, are you...?"

"Houki? Is that you?" Ichika stood up from his bed and put on his uniform, he's going to meet someone in the hall so it's only fair to do that, for privacy preservation if one can say. _Keplunk. _"Houki? What are you-?"

"C-Can I come in? I want to talk to you... D-Don't worry, there won't be..."

"Eh...?" If one can put this in a crazy way, Ichika imagined something like...

...Crazy imagination...

"Ichika may I come in?"

"H-Hai..." Houki comes inside the room...

"Wh-What is she doing here? I..." Then something deep within Ichika's mind spoke up... 'Go, Go for it! The score is there, all over her body!' "Huh? N-No, it's not..."

"Huh? Ichika?"

"Oh uh Houki, this is kinda strange but..." 'If you're not gonna do it, then I will, ha ha! The score, the score... THE SCORE-!' "Waah!"

"I-Ichika! I- Gyaah!"

...End of imagination...

"No, No-!"

"Wh-What?"

"Eh?" Ichika subconsciously yelled that outloud... well, it became conscious in the last minute. "Uh... nothing, I... Well, anyway, w-what did you want to talk about?"

"Oh uh it's... personal, I..."

"Huh? Oh, do you want fresh air? We can get to the balcony if you like."

"H-Hai, I like that." The two of them go to the balcony where there is a chill air about, the winter season is coming soon, and it will come the snow soon, it will snow soon anyway. "Did you know...?"

"Hm? What is it? Oh, by the way, congratulations."

"Eh?"

"You won the national tournament right? I heard about it, you were awesome."

"Oh uh, you... remembered, ha ha, ha." The moment of silence between two childhood friends, this is... romantic... in some way, in Houki's perspective anyway while Ichika... it's something... well, you are accompanying someone and you enjoy their presence... that's just about it.

"Well, what was it you wanna talk about?"

"Oh uh well... I... N-Nothing much I... I only..."

"Hm?"

"I... A-Anyway, I just want to congratulate you for enrolling into IS academy, and do watch yourself!"

"H-Hai, okay." 'Why is she suddenly becoming aggressive?' Houki is about to leave the room in a hurry, as if to dismiss the conversation as soon as possible but...

"S-Sa, see you... in class, tom- Waah!" _Tonk! _Houki slipped out of the underwear that was lying on the ground.

"H-Houki, ah, ah!" Ichika unintentionally saw her... well, undies, if one can put it to something not very personal, but as for Houki...

"G-Gyaah, wh-where are you looking...? Did you...?"

"Eh? Oh uh... w-what?"

"Hey, did you... did you..." She leans closer to him... very angrily...

"Wh-What?"

"Did you... what color did you see?"

"Eh? Oh uh I saw something like... a white thing like- Gyah! I didn't! I didn't saw anything!"

"You..."

"H-Hey, it wasn't my fault, if you didn't rolled down on the floor, I wouldn't have seen your-"

"Hentai!" _Tick! _

"Ow!" Ichika received a clean hit on the head by her kendo sword, this is her special weapon in some way, she's trained in the arts of kendo and so she's quite the warrior if one can put it, she's also the champion of the tournament of the nationals as Ichika mentioned a while ago but that's all to be cast aside at the moment as... "Ow, you really became strong."

"You are very lecherous to become a grown man, you..."

"Hey, like I said it wasn't my-"

"Silence! I'll-"

"Like I'll let you!" Ichika grabbed the nearby broom as a weapon, he knows how to use something like this as a sword since he also practiced kendo during his childhood alongside Houki when they were living in the same dojo in the past.

"Brace yourself Ichika, show me how you've grown! Hiyaa!"

"Here I go, hiyaa!" _Clash, clash! Claash! _"Gr, you're... strong..."

"Ah, this is only the beginning, or rather, this is only the primary strength that I'm showing, I'll show you..." _Clash! _

"Gyah!" The broom got tossed to the side.

"Hiya!"

"Whoa, wait, alright, you-"

_Slip! _"W-Waah!"

"Eh? Wah!" The two of them fell down on the bed with Ichika having Houki on top, that sounded wrong for Ichika. "Ow, Houki, I... Gyah! Guah!" White bra... that's what he saw.

"Eh? W-Waah! H-Hentai!"

"B-Baka, don't say something-"

"You're an idiot, you-"

"Hey, Ichika, I got something to discuss with you, I'll-" _Keplunk. _"Huh?"

"Wha-" Both of them turn to the person who opened the door... Chifuyu.

"..."

"..."

"..." ...A silence in which there is only the sound of cricket... and... "I must be dreaming or something because... I'm quite ready to strangle a samurai girl and if I am indeed dreaming, I might as well snuff out every last breath in her." She said clunching her fists with a scenario of a molten magma flames igniting behind her.

"Gyaah! I-I'm sorry Orimura-sensei!" The door is shut as Houki's scream is heard in the corridor, with Chifuyu following behind.

"Ugh... I... Ah." Knowing Chifuyu, Ichika knows what it means to be on her bad side, so...

...Later, in the faculty...

_Strike! _"Ow!"

_Strike! _"Ge," The two childhood friends received a whack on the head by Chifuyu using a fan.

"That should teach you two some private matters, don't you know the rules around here? Screw any of that and you will receive plenty more of that, Orimura, get back to your room, Shinonono, don't do something like barging into someone else's room without permission next time."

"H-Hai." "Hai..." "We're sorry." They both said and then they left the faculty. "Uh, sorry about..."

"I'm going back to my room." Houki left.

"..." Ichika is left behind. "_Sigh,_ I guess I should apologize tomorrow."

"Hey, it's that boy, the one who is Chifuyu-sensei's younger brother."

"It's him, it's him alright."

"Ja, let us see if we can talk to him." Three girls are in tailing, they move to every corner as Ichika makes his way back to his room.

"Sa te, I better bring a snack along with me, I'm kinda hungry." The three have brightened eyes as he said that. He decided to buy something from the vending machine. "Hm, let's see..."

"Orimura-kun!"

"Huh?" Turning around, he sees three girls, one of them is quite unique, she's not wearing the same IS uniform like the other two and in fact, is this type of clothing acceptable here? A sleeveless dress followed by... a... Her appearance can be mesmerizing that it makes you think she's about to tumble at any moment now. "Uh... is there...?"

"You're hungry right?"

"Eh?"

"You want to have a snack right?"

"Eh? Oh uh I just..." He just picked up an animal crackers on the vending machine that he just inserted a yen with.

"We have a lot of those that you can eat with, yeah, so..."

"Come with us!" He got pulled by the three.

"Eh? H-Hey, G-Gyaah!" By the way, by "sleeveless", meaning the one who is not wearing the same uniform as the other two's hands are not visible, and she seems to be having no problem walking at all without tumbling, Ichika speculated that she might have gotten used to walking like this. So that sort of like costume or suit sort of making her personality out of her, cute, clumsy and playful. And her hands are not visible due to the long sleeve, again by "sleeveless", meaning the sleeves are not much being used, so to Ichika's perspective, she's like a puppy wanting to play with someone.

...At the east side of the corridor...

"Ah." Ichika finds himself being interrogated by these three girls who are like paparazzis interrogating an idol star, though of course, Ichika is no idol, only because of the...

"Say, are you really Chifuyu-san's younger brother?"

"How did you pull that one off yesterday?"

"Are you capable of piloting Byakushiki?"

"..." One at the time please, would be Ichika's respond to all this, but seeing that he doesn't know these girls, by name anyhow, he doesn't know how to respond... "Uh, who..."

"Oh right, sorry, to introduce ourselves..."

...Later, at Class 1-1...

"Ah."

"Welcome to IS academy!" Ichika finds himself sitting in the front row in the seating arrangement, he wasn't sure, but this may be as well the classroom he'll be attending tomorrow, right now, he's being welcomed by a bunch of girls he hasn't met yet, though according to them, they checked the class roster and they found his name amongst them, which means... this is likely his classroom tomorrow, but come to think of it, the day tomorrow, is now already... since it's already 2 a.m. in the morning, it amazes Ichika of how just these girls do not get restless even at the time like this, they must do some sleepover or maybe they sleep in the day, though Ichika could hardly imagine a class that is being taught by Chifuyu to be sleeping the entire day, because after all, this is Chifuyu we're talking about... there's no one will be left unscathed if she would to supervise a bunch of sleepy students.

"Uh, what... what is this?"

"We checked the class roster, and it turns out, you'll be our classmate, hooray!"

"..."

"So to welcome you to the class, we decided to change our representative."

"Huh?"

"Right, so I'm giving it up and pass it to you."

"Yeah!"

"..." Ichika cannot believe these girls, passing a bucket like that, is what it means to transfer in a school wherein you are... well, in Ichika's case, he seems to be having the most improper welcome, or at least, in his perspective. "Wha... What happened..." He's going to ask about where the normal life he has been living thus far has gone, apparently it's long gone. "I... am..."

"Hm? What is it? Got something to say about your position?"

"..." No, that's not what he wanted to say, what he wanted to say is that... he's getting sleepy and he doesn't need any more mental strain as of just earlier...

"Huh? Oh my, you're all still up? You all should be on your rooms now." Yamada-sensei comes in and sees the entire class to be present, even though it's not yet time for a regular class session.

"Ah, Yamada-sensei, have you come to join us in our welcoming party?"

"Eh? W-Welcome... party?"

"Hai, to welcome and celebrate Orimura-kun as our new representative!"

"..." The one who is being mentioned is now even more feeling out of place in this so-called celebration.

"Eh... Uh... Wha... What's going..." Obviously flustered, Yamada-sensei could not keep up with these girls' high spirits and Ichika...

"..." 'I better get out of here.' The only thing that comes to his mind is how he is going to escape this hellish classroom.

...Later, at 1025 room...

"Whew," In the end, he managed to break away from the grasps of the girls who are to be his classmates in the morning, it's already tomorrow for the day that is to come, meaing it's already passed 12 'o clock in the morning, and Ichika is still having less energy in him, both because of the mental strains that he suffered and the recent incident this evening, well, yesterday's evening due to the day being the tomorrow for the day that has passed recently, it seems some of the sounds of birds are already echoing outside, checking the time, it seems it's already 2: 37 a.m. "I'm still sleepy." Not having more energy left, Ichika just tumbled on his bed and quickly went adrift.

...In the morning, at class 1-1...

"So you're saying, that this blockhead is the next representative of this class?"

"..." Ichika, with a drowsy expression, stands in front as he was just elected to be class representative, the one, the former representative, who held such honor quickly back down and passed it to him, but not in a rude way, but rather, it's a sign of affection, from their perspective anyway. "..." 'Why am I here? I'm still sleepy, and... and... why the heck am I being passed on by a lot of burdens recently?'

"Hai, we're happy to let Orimura-kun have the position!" All of them said.

'I... I can't believe this.' Though in Ichika's perspective, this is like he has been damned by Japan's population of women while in their perspective, he would be like... well, an example more or less of what men can do... or maybe it's just their daydreaming results.

"...Really now, have you all thought about this?" It seems even Chifuyu realized that this is just another one of their crazy ideas without thinking it through, looking at Ichika, he seems to be begging to neglect the passing of the bucket to him. "..." Then turning to the girls, they all have glimmering eyes so... which means... this is... a one-man-army indeed. "..." Then turning back to Ichika, who pleads this time but... "...Very well, he'll be the representative of this class."

"Ugh." Ichika felt like the darkness has taken him to the bowels of Hell while...

"Hooray!" The entire class is in Heaven right now.

'Why me...?' Said an angelic Ichika... in his perspective anyway.

"Ha ha!" ...While he views, and to some aspect, the girls laughter to be like a bunch of succubus intending to put him in a pot or something, like cook him or something like that, but enough about this, he seems to hear the girls laughter to be like that of the laughter of succubi as well.

"Well, that's about it, Orimura, you sit right there in the front row." Chifuyu assigned Ichika to sit on the middle front row where he can be easily seen and it seems most of the girls' stare are directed at him, to some aspect of perspective, he seems to invisioning something like a hellish kingdom wherein he will suffer a lot of misfortune. "...Well, that's about it."

"Kyaah-!"

"Urusai!" _Slam! _Chifuyu, having grown tired of all the squealing and perhaps some protectiveness towards her brother, slammed an attendance book on the desk to silence all the noises. "I'll be taking attendance, all of you are to behave like proper children, Orimura, grab a proper P.E. attire once we all head out of here."

"H-Hai."

"..." Sitting near the far left window, Houki stares at Ichika, then she turns her stare outside, it's refreshing outside with all the sunshine and that blue sea gives a calming atmosphere about it, of course, due to all the squealing earlier, much to her annoyance that it's about Ichika, that all girls' attention are all focused on him that is, the calm atmosphere quickly melted away, she's someone who doesn't have much friends here in the academy, though she is revered by her fellow kendo members as a master of a kendo sword and she might as well be the next champion again should a tournament for kendo arises, well, that aside, it's now time for class...

"Well then, let us start class everyone, let us all get along well now with Orimura-kun in our class."

"Hai!" Yamada-sensei took over for a while as Chifuyu stepped out of the room to arrange for something.

'Ichika... Hm, you're here again, we're together again. Hm," Houki's stare focused on Ichika like the rest of the girls, she's someone who admired this young man's attitude of wanting to protect those who he hold dear, unlike her who easily turns into blind rage and would just go about slashing everyone with a sword, she remembers her time on a dojo where Ichika used to stay, she would occasionally be with him whenever she sees a sight of him, and Tabane and Chifuyu would approve of it, especially Tabane who finally found someone Houki could talk and play with, but... one problem is... "Tch, again, my nee-san has put us together, it was because she was connected to Chifuyu-san that we met and it was because she introduced IS to the world that he is also here again, but... her work... her stupid, cursed invention... made us... me and my mother... resented by the people, how dare she..." Houki is someone who could not get along well with a family bloodline, despite being popular for her invention, Tabane is resented by her younger sister and her mother would occasionally encourages her to get along well with her, but due to a long separation with Ichika and other consequences, Houki has grown to be very distant towards Tabane, whose whereabouts is still unknown.

...In the faculty...

"Hey, Tabane, can I talk to you?" Chifuyu made her way into the faculty office to talk with a friend, a childhood friend to be in fact, well, that... despite how they get along and despite how their personality differs from each other, differences seem to attract more than anything else, they still maintain a connection of sort and she's the only one who knows where she is at the moment, this someone is...

"Chi-chan! I'm so glad to hear from you again!"

"...Tabane, stop your squealing, we're going to attract some attention if they hear you screaming through the phone."

"But Chi-chan, I've missed you so much, I-"

_Pin. _"Tch, why did I even bother contacting her?" Chifuyu regretted a little contacting that associate of hers, she was going to ask her about something regarding Ichika but... _Riing, riing. _"Tabane, would you take this seriously?"

"How mean Chi-chan, hanging up on your best friend."

"Just tell me one thing, what was that? That system that activated itself when Ichika piloted the Byakushiki."

"Hm, I wonder about that myself, it seems to be something that has been installed in your IS for some time now and you never activated it before."

"But how? If it was there, I would have been able to use it in the past."

"That's not possible Chi-chan, it only responds to certain stimuli."

"What?"

"Have you ever heard of the super genetic genes of mankind?"

"...What? What's with all these all of the sudden?"

"Well, you might be surprised to hear this Chi-chan but, it seems Ikkun has something that can be considered the next development of mankind."

"...What?" Now Chifuyu is even more bewildered, what she's hearing right now sounds like a science fiction story. "Are you telling me something like a fairy tale now?"

"No, I'm telling you that Ikkun is the next stage of development of mankind."

"And what exactly... does that mean?" When it comes to Ichika, Chifuyu is very protective to him against any kind of aggressors, politicians, crazy scientists excluding Tabane of course, well, since she's not crazy at all, and some other aggressive countries out there who are after him for research, which may include bisection of... well, casting that aside... "What exactly are you telling me?"

"I'm not sure myself, but are you familiar with the Theory called the Seed Syndrome?"

"What?"

"Supposedly, the Seed Syndrome is the continuation of human evolution, Ikkun may be a prime example of how far humans can go beyond the evolution, you saw it right? He was able to pilot your own IS the Byakushiki with only a few knowledge of how to operate it, that's how it works, the theory says that the mentality of the individual would go beyond that of a normal thinking wherein all types of information would just flow into the individual, making them fully conscious and in control of their actions."

"...Okay, so, you're saying Ichika has some superhuman abilities in him?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that, Ikkun is pretty much like everyone else for that matter, he's just... well, the Seed Syndrome you see Chi-chan can be applied to everyone, even you can posses it."

"...What?" Chifuyu is known to be both a beauty and strength when it comes to development of one's mentality, meaning she's someone who can discipline someone with fear and leadership, she even can command a handful of individuals who would devote themselves to her cause, meaning they look up to her as a role model, she has been like this for about her entire life, but... The information she's receiving right now would be far beyond something she has thought to be, if her brother is involved into something like a plot to some people, she would occasionally punished those who involved him in such plots but... this seems to be something that is done by not a person, but rather, it's Fate itself, if she believes in such things in the first place. "You're saying..."

"Well anyway, that's all I could say about it, the theory is yet to proven and there are some things that cannot be explained through words alone, ha ha, well I wouldn't worry about it Chi-chan, this Zero System only reacts to those who can achieve the state of being in the state where they can tap into their potentials to be in the state of where they can surpass the normal thinking and gather more information more faster, this is the Seed Syndrome as I said, it's theory is yet to proven but I think the most easiest way to describe is that... Ikkun has been chosen by destiny to lead the evolution of mankind to the farthest."

"..." Now this is even more like a science fiction, even more so than that, Fate, destiny and all that sort of stuff... it's all too hard to comprehend, there are some things that are beyond words as Tabane said that is needed to explain more than that, Chifuyu herself is speechless in this type of topic, perhaps it's something that can only be learned through experience, not through mere speculations of evaluations alone, the ones that are done in class sessions at least, well, speaking of class sessions... "I gotta go now, I got a class underway."

"Oh wait, Chi-chan, I still have something to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Take a good closer inspection of Ikkun okay?"

"Huh?"

"You might not know this but... seeing that he can enter the state of the Seed Syndrome, he might as well be targetted by..."

"...by what?"

"...You are aware of the unrest that is occurring all over the world right now right?"

"...Yes." These unrests that Tabane mentioned are the recent activities of military bases being attacked by an unknown force that leads an army of IS that seems to be relentless and unstoppable, their numbers seem to be also unending as more and more military bases fall under their might, more and more IS flock to their army and more than that, the attacks are also somewhat of a mystery as apparently, there were no corpses that were found after each onslaughts and there is even a rumor that the dead themselves have risen to join the unending assault of the mysterious force that is wrecking havoc on the world right now, it is because of this that some countries specifically asked for some defense in their part, most IS were deployed to numerous places as a result though that seems to be not enough, since the nature of this mysterious force is to attack and then have IS and corpses, that are revived through unnatural means, join its cause is still in-large, this type of movement seems to be risky as any type of counterattack that were made in plans for the retaliation to this mysterious force were all for naught, not only that, its specific location of where it might be laying low for a while is unknown, making it more elusive than ever, some say it may be hiding underground though no one dared to go there and face its relentless army and the chance of returning back alive or unscathed is very low, so it was not yet vendured by some nations all over the world, though some may know about it... "What about it?"

"Well, this mysterious force that has been causing everyone problems may be aiming at Ikkun."

"Why is that?"

"Well... suffice to say that it does not wish for humanity to advance further into the evolution."

"...Okay, ja, if that's all you have to say, I'm hanging up now."

"Okay, ja, take care of yourself Chi-chan, oh, and give Ikkun a kiss for me, ha ha." With that, Chifuyu hanged up, maybe Tabane was a little distraught of what she did, since... well, casting that aside...

"...This is all too confusing, Seed Syndrome huh... Hm, the mysterious force... going after... Hm, I better keep my ears check and my eyes open." With that, Chifuyu exited the faculty room and headed back to the classroom.

...At the afternoon, at the field...

Everyone in Class 1-1 is gathered here for their Physical Education, all of the girls are wearing the same attire with the exception of Ichika who is the only male around here, Chifuyu and Yamada-sensei are wearing jogging suits. "Alright, we'll be practicing some IS manuevers, all of you, split into five groups, five members is enough."

A lot of girls started forming into groups with the exception of... "..." 'What am I supposed to do? I barely knew my classmates and they are all females, what am I supposed to do?' "_Sigh, _I wish..."

"Hey..." Someone pats him on the shoulder.

"Huh?" It's Houki.

"Do you need a group? I could assign you into one of ours."

"Eh? Oh uh sure, thanks."

"Mo~" Some of the girls moan as Ichika was recruited sort the least.

"Yay, we're with Orimura-kun!"

"We should do well."

"Ah!" Familiar faces, it's those three last night.

"You guys..." Ichika seems to recognize them due to the presence of one of them... her cheerful nature is perhaps the one that is to take note as a reminder of whose group who she belongs to, that should be also enough to remind someone of who is she hanging out to.

"Urusai, we're going to the nearby forest for more space."

"Huh? The forest?"

"Oh, the part of the academy where we hang out sometimes."

"Yeah, that should be the appropriate place to do some manuevers, but Orimura-kun will be teaching us since he's the only one with the personal IS."

"Ugh." Ichika is not good at tutoring others, this is his first experience but with Houki around, that should ease the tension of his nervousness.

"Ja, I'll give you all some five minutes to discuss what manuever you will perform, after that, I'll let you all demonstrate it in front."

"Hai!" At Chifuyu's word, everyone scattered around the field to find a suitable place to practice.

"Oh everyone, please try not to go too far from the field, we'll have a hard time finding you if you go too far." Yamada-sensei added.

"Anyone who is late in the gathering will have 20 laps around the campus, so get to it." And Chifuyu added... in a strict way.

...At the nearby forest...

The three girls, with the one known as Nohohon-san leading the conversation further, walk in front with Houki and Ichika walking beside each other without saying anything. "..."

"..."

"..." 'What's with this silent atmosphere? It's not like I did something to upset her right? I still remember what happened last night though... Speaking of which, I still lack some energy since last night, I onlyl slept for about five hours and that's not enough, or maybe it's just four hour and thirtee minutes, _sigh, _either, I'm lacking energies to even think about our performance for our demonstration to this Physical education." "_Sigh._"

"Um... N-Ne, Ichika..."

"Hm? Yeah?" 'It seems she finally spoke up.'

"S-Sorry about... last night... it was..."

"Ah, don't worry about it, it was nothing worth bothered to anyway."

"But still, it's..."

"Hm? What are two talking about?"

"Do you two know each other?" It seems Nohohon-san and the other two girls finally noticed the two of them talking.

"Oh uh well, we're childhood friends."

"Eh... Eh? You're... childhood friends?" They all asked surprised.

"I-It's none of your business, anyway, we best prepare for the demonstration of IS, everyone line up." Houki quickly dismissed the subject and just used the Practice IS that were provided for them in this class session, they are all for students in the academy, Ichika has his own personal IS that he can activate at any moment, it's right now in its closed form wherein it has taken the form of a gauntlet on Ichika's wrist. "Sa, all of you, prepare your own Practice IS."

"Hai." The did so.

"How do we..."

"Ichika, I'm going to perform some manuevers, and I'm going to need a partner... so... s-so..." She's insisting that the two of them would spar like old times... only this time, IS is involved, which... "Gr..." ...it sometimes pains Houki to use an IS, since... well, it's the creation of the older sister she resented so much for about... six years now probably and it's still haven't been resolved just yet, but perhaps... "W-anyway, we best get ready, I'm gonna show you some kendom moves with this IS, you're gonna block all of it."

"Eh? But, that's..."

"Prepare yourself, hiyaa!" _Whoosh! _

"H-Hey, wait up, I-" _Strike! _"Guah!"

"Ah!"

"Uwa!" The three girls, along with Houki, exclaimed worriedly after Houki unwittingly attacked Ichika with a wooden sword that is attached to the Practice IS.

"Ow, that... hurts, geez, Houki, you're still the same in kendo." Ichika rubs his left cheek that was hit by Houki.

"B-Baka, why didn't you... why didn't you deployed your IS immediately? You could have defended yourself from my attack."

"Mo, Shinonono, you shouldn't just instantly attack Orimura-kun like that, he's still new at this."

"That's right, and besides, you should tell us what to do as well."

"We're going to take turns, Ichika, get up, you should be a man enough to stand up to that kind of attack."

"Ugh, geez." Ichika stood up. "If this is what you want it, alright, ja... Hm? Huh? How do I...?"

"Hm? What's the matter? Hurry up and deployed your IS."

"But... how do I..." _Sharp. _"Huh?" The spark of... _Sharp! Sharp! _A seed... being cut in half... and brilliant of light scattered... "..." Ichika's eyes become slightly dark. "...Hai, here I go." _Flash, flash! _He managed to bring out his IS, the Byakushiki.

"Wa, sugoi, Orimura-kun!" The three girls are thrilled at that.

"Urusai, you three, prepare on your own Practice IS as well." Like Chifuyu, Houki can be quite strict to her instructions to her subordinates.

"Hai." They did so.

"Yosh, sa, Ichika, if you try hold back, I'm going to show you no mercy."

"Ah, do so." Ichika right now is calm, collected and somewhat... focused, as his eyes are not becoming... well, the same as before, it seems the Seed Syndrome is activated in him, it may be activated in extreme situation wherein the individual may have pure intent in plan, like how Ichika wanted to... "Sa, here I go, Houki! Hiyaa!" ...help her with something... personal.

"Alright, here I go as well, hiyaa!" _Whoosh! _The two childhood friends rush to each other, _Clash! _and they clashed, theirs swords are wooden, Ichika didn't ignited the laser saber, or laser blade as one put it, since this is only a practice.

"Woo, this is intense."

"Ah." The other three girls watch the two of them.

"Hiyaa!" _Clash! _Houki broke off, _Clash! _"Huah!" Then they clashed again.

"You're still the same Houki, like the last time we sparred on that dojo. But... You are holding back."

"Huh?" _Clash! Whoosh! _Both broke away from each other. "Wh-What do you mean by..."

"You're holding back because the IS are of Tabane-san's invention right?"

"Wh-What?"

"Tabane?"

"Shinonono Tabane? The IS..." The three girls recognized that name but...

"U-Urusai, this has nothing to do with her, sa, prepare yourself, I'll be more-" _Whoosh! _"Ah," Houki is taken by surprise as Ichika suddenly went aggressive and charge at her with his hand equipped to Byakushiki, clenching his fist, he aims directly at... _Whoosh! Clash! _...Houki's face.

"Ah!" _Block! _The attacked was blocked however, as the procedure that is installed in the Practice IS protected her, it seems Ichika anticipated that so... _Flash...! _"Huh? Wha..."

"Houki."

"Wh-What?" The two of them are engulfed by a golden light that emanated as they have come in contact, along with their IS.

"Wha..."

"Wh-What's going on?" The three girls are witnesses to this phenomenon.

...Somewhere...

"Houki."

"I-Ichika." Ichika and Houki stand before a place wherein emotions are reigning everywhere, it's emanating brightly at Ichika's side as a side effect of the Seed Syndrome perhaps as in all types of knowledge comes to him in a very fast pace. While as for Houki... there is quite a certain coldness in her part, like she's reluctant or something, or at least, something is holding her back at the moment and that is. "Wh-What is... Where is this?"

"That doesn't matter, so your problem is about Tabane-san right?"

"Wh-What about her? I told you before, this has nothing to do with-"

"Houki! Be true to yourself for once, if you keep beating yourself to it, you'll never reconcile with her, don't you know what that may feel like to her, she cherishes you, she would do anything for you, just for you to be safe. You and your family."

"Ichika... You... You... You don't know anything! What we been through, people resented us, people were massacred and people wanting us to leave, how do we justify my sister's creation with such commotions? Everyone resented us, everyone wanted us to be blame for what happened and everyone... didn't want anything to do with us. I... my... my mother... she..." Houki's part is starting to become glow in color, signifying that she may as well not holding back her own emotions this time, this is like relieving one of stress as in if you don't have anything else better to do, let yourself go.

"Ah, I know, I know what you been through, but..." Ichika stretches out a hand, this is... "I'm here now, I'll help you."

"Wha..."

"Houki, you try to resolve things in your own, your own power is not enough, you should know that, learn to rely on others, or you won't be able to accomplish what you intended to do."

"What I..."

"Tell me, what is it that you intend to do?"

"Wha...?"

"What is it that you wish? That deep inside you, what is it that you truly desire?"

"...I... I..." Flashback of six years ago's tournament, Houki have sworn to win at all cost in order to... in order to... she still remember her exact words to Ichika before the fight... "_Ichika! If I win this fight, you... you... you would be my boyfriend!" Flash! _That sparked some brightness... too much brightness in fact on Houki's part, now it's... _Flash! _

...Back to the real world...

_Flash. _Ichika broke away a bit from Houki, who seems to have a resolution or something. "...Ichika."

"What?" It seems the Seed Syndrome has passed out for a while so...

"Let us spar... just like old times."

"Hm, ah, let's."

"Well then, hiyaa!"

"Hiyaa!" _Clash! _Just like childhood friends in the past, they are once again in the same level of relationship.

"Oh wow, this is getting good."

"Hey, do we get to demonstrate as well soon?" The three girls are still witnesses to this.

"Hiyaa!"

"Here I go, Houki!" _Clash! Flash...! _

...Later that night, in a balcony...

"Ah, it's fresh air." Houki stands before a balcony where she is enjoying a strawberry juice, it's already passed night time for everyone and most of the residents in IS academy have all went to bed, except for her it seems, or maybe there are those doing sleepover somewhere in the other rooms, and as for her. "I sparred with Ichika again just like last time, last time... hmhm." Houki chuckles at the childhood memories at the dojo with Ichika, the two of them would talk about Houki's problem and how she was bullied by a bunch of boys about her being boyish and Ichika would just chase them away and would say she's cute and feminine to some degree, well, all degrees actually, that and many other more. "Hmhm, I'm so glad... I met him again." She continues chuckling at those childhood memories and... "_Siip, _Nee-san, if I meet you again, you will..." ...Pause... pause... "You will be welcomed home again." And with that, a redemption is borned, a lot of it... endless. The night continues...

...Meanwhile, at the deep level of the sea..

_Whoosh! Blaaze! Stomp! _"Grooaarr!" The dragon like IS has just landed on a deep passage to an underground military base. _Blaaze! Blaaze! _"Grooaarr!" _Stomp! Stomp, stomp! _Violent tremors are sent to the passage ways to the military base, the ones who are trespassing are.

"Grooaarr!"

"Grooaarr!" A horde of IS that are being piloted by a lot of non-living beings, they are... zombies, if one can put it, their humanities have been stripped from them and they only wish to serve the Devil IS that is atop the passage way at the sea water that is covering the entire area.

"Grooaarr!"

"The enemy is here! Deploy all cannons! Deploy all the IS!"

"Sir!"

"Ahh!"

"You will pay you monsters! HIyaa!" A bunch of IS engaged the horde of zombies into a battle.

"Grooaarr!" _Tsing, tsing, tsing! Boom, Boom, Boom! _An escalated battle occurred.

"Grooaarr!" _Blaaze! Blaaze! _The Devil IS that is atop the passage way sent out flames as if that is a means to give command to its army, and... "Grooaarr, grooaarr!" _Stomp, stomp! _Violent tremors shaked the passage way

"Waah!" Some of the soldiers that are living are shakened by the impact. "Wh-What was... Huh?" Looking above the glass that is protecting the passage way, it's a bulletproof glass so it's not easy to penetrate or break. But the problem is... "What the..."

"Grooaarr! Grooaarr!" The image of the Devil is right there, and it's not here to merely parley with them but... "Grooaar." _Blaast, blasst... _It's charging up something... something... that is... enough... to destroy... _Blaast... _...everything...

"W-Waah! Everybody run! We're all going to die!"

_Blaasst, _"Grooaarr, grooaarr!" _Blaast! Boom, Boom, BOOM! BOOM! BOOOM! _

"Ahh!"

"Uarrgh!"

"Aarrgh!" A lot of people perished... along with some of the horde that is unleashed by the Devil IS, it has no regard for even its army it seems, even though not all of them were annihilated, with the passage way destroyed, there can be no more counterattacks.

"Grooaarr, groaarr!" _Whoosh, whoosh! _The Devil then flew above the surface. _Splash! _"Grooaarr!" _Stomp! _"Grooaarr!" _Blaaze! _With the passage way destroyed, the military base is now under its mercy, with no more exits or escape for the remaining people here, it has only one intent...

"Waah! It's going to kill us!"

"Run for it!"

"We can't, all of the escape pods have been destroyed and..."

_Blaast. _"Grooaarr!" The Devil then rose up from the rooftop it landed... and... _Blaast, blaast, blaast...! Blaast! _"Grooaarr!"

"Ahh!" _Boom, Boom, BOOM! _The military base has been destroyed, adding more deaths and... followers to its cause.

"Grooaarr."

"Grooaarr." A bunch of zombies then swim to the wreckage to grab the bodies, then they drag them underground where they will be turned into slaves for the Devil.

"Grooaarr, grooaarr!" _Whoosh! _With no more enemies to be sighted, the Devil flipped backward, _Splash! _and returned to deepest part of the sea, where it will continue remain hidden from the public's eye and where it will strike from the shadows...

End of Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

**Infinite Stratos: Infinite Possibilities**

**Chapter 3: Reunion With A Childhood Friend**

...At the cafeteria...

It's now lunch time for everyone, Houki and Ichika are sitted together with some familiar people. "Ichika, remember that we'll intensified your training from here on out."

"Oh, you're gonna work harder now Orimu-kun?" This is Nohohon-san, as Ichika came to know her to be, she's eating along with her two friends with the two childhood friends.

"Ah, the kendo training session isn't a joke."

"Hm, are you sure you should be giving that to him Shinonono?"

"Ah, Houki, can't you just..."

"Don't call me by first name!"

"Ah... Shinonono, can I just..."

"No, we'll use ten times harder this time."

"Ugh." Ever since Ichika came to the academy, he has received harsh treatments from Houki, training, insulting, but can be considered encouraging in a way, and from time to time, a hit on the head, which is sometimes either because Ichika has done something that offended her in any way, but not that Ichika mind it but he could take a break from to time, though that is only when it's night time where the peace can roam the entire place but... there's not much peace with everything going on in the world right now, recently...

...At the faculty...

"Ne, Orimura-sensei, the government just called, imploring us to send the best IS group that we can muster." Yamada-sensei and Chifuyu are the only ones in here, discussing personal, political matters.

"Tell them no, we can't do that with all the children around here pretty much ignorant about what's happening."

"That's true, we can't send these children to fight, not with, not with the..."

"You heard of the trouble ablooming all over the world right now right?"

"...Hai, it's spreading, and it doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon."

"Right, another military facility was destroyed just yesterday, a lot of people die, and their corpses were said to be recovered by the mysterious group that attacked."

"Ne, Orimura-sensei, do you think there's an IS out there that is capable of... um... something that... cannot be... stopped?"

"I don't know, there were such IS in the past where they were considered to be stronger than the rest, these IS were created for personal purpose of either eradicating the world of terrorist and the other is to reshape the world into a better place due to the all the war that has ravaged the world, a lot of people were killed due to the creation of IS and many are using them for their own benefit."

"Right, but do you think... do you think there's a chance that..."

"That this group's IS is one of those things that I considered to be stronger than the rest?"

"Hai, do you think...?"

"I can't be certain, the IS creator, Shinonono Tabane, didn't really created them, though they were considered to be fourth generation IS with suitable armaments that can handle about an army but to my estimation, they shouldn't be use by anyone else other than those who verified their code and their progamming only requires them to be piloted by those who designed them, I wonder though... Yamada, are you familiar with the virus that spreaded throughout the network long time ago?"

"You mean the time where..."

"Right, when the White Knight incident occured," Right, in the past, an unknown hacker was said to hacked all the computers in the military and sent 2341 missiles to Japan and the only one that were able to stop them was an IS that is said to be the greatest creation among the rest, this IS was referred to as the White Knight, it has almost an invincible armament about it, being able to fend off those who either intended to destroy or capture it, but then after ending the threat, it disappeared and was not heard of again, but right after that, something happened, something like a curse to put it in some perspective about how it occurred, a large number of IS that were said to be destroyed were salvaged and some of the pilots who died were also salvaged to some degree that their bodies were never found, and right after that, after about a year, a large number of IS that are damaged have said to invade the borders Japan, bringing down a lot of military bases that opposed them and the leader of such force is something that was not seen before, an IS that is not for human use, but rather, it's the same as many IS except it doesn't have any much human attributes and it's probably the first to be considered unique, the same uniqueness of the White Knight, it was not sighted before and this one acts more like a beast than human, it was only seen by only a few but the casualties and damages it reigned on the world was something that was not to be forgotten anytime soon, supposedly at this time, an unknown IS signal was said to detect the unit and challenged it, some say this was the White Knight appearing again but there were no certainties, nonetheless though, a lot of its armies was destroyed and the beast like IS that is later given the named the Devil IS was challenged by the unit, but to everyone's shock, it was not enough, the beast remained fearsome and it was able to outmatched the unit that opposed it and it was it even corrupted its core to some degree, luckily though, the IS that oppposed the Devil was not added to its cause and was instead to have been able to escape damaged and was not in any condition any time soon to be in perfect condition soon, so the unit was not seen again, though despite this, its effort did halt the Devil's carnage on the world, with its armies decimated, it begun to gather more damaged IS and corpses to raise for its own army and it was only another a year that it decided to show up again, with this time, no one is able to oppose or halt its advance to the country, now the people are relying on the children these days to be able to pilot IS and become something similar to the White Knight to distraught at least, the advancement of the mysterious fource that is wrecking havoc at the corners of the world, now... with children being the only hope to stop the now corrupted Devil IS, once an IS that were amongst the fourth generation with the purpose of rebuilding the world, and somehow save the world. "that IS was the only thing that was able to stop the beast IS, but now..."

"Ne, Orimura-sensei, forgive me for being intrusive but... do you think... it's possible for-"

"There's no way, Orimura is far less experience in dealing something like this, we best not rely on him to such things." She immediately cut off what she was about to say regarding Ichika, her one and only younger brother. "Besides, this IS that is on a renegaded path right now was only corrupted because of some interference of some meddling bastards who are still at large out there." Right, outside the public notice, an organization called the Phantom Task exists, supposedly, it's an organization that consists of many defected IS pilots and they are said to be collecting IS for their own benefit, they are aware of the existence of the Devil IS and they seem to be making a move on recovering it, they are also responsible for its corruption, just as Chifuyu was about to retire in being an IS user, she is one of the few people to know of the fourth generation IS that were kept safe from dangerous hands, just when they were about to be sealed forever, members of the Phantom Task invaded the base that was keeping them, the one who was leading them was someone called M, for codenames, and she was able to obtain the thing with her hand but... unexpectedly, something within the system that was once known to be an IS that will lead the world to its former beauty was corrupted, and instead of being an IS that obeys the orders of those that made it, it was corrupted and changed and its designation name was changed into Devil IS, the now name of the IS that is roaming in the world right now, wrecking havoc everywhere it passes, the Phantom Task failed to retrieve the other IS as a result due to the Devil IS going berserk and destroying the rest that were to be activated then it annihilated a lot of group, from those who created it and those of the Phantom Task. "Those bastards..."

"Um, Orimura-sensei."

"Nevermind, meeting's over, the class will resume anytime soon so be prepared for it."

"H-Hai, as you wish."

...At the classroom of Class 1-1...

"..." It's the usual lesson, some of which are hard to comprehend for Ichika, who is sitting on the middle row in the front, and as he is trying to cope up with the lesson, he soon finds himself bewildered by all the stuff about that, that and that, or at least, that's how he labels them of being in the category in his brain, he had information about the Byakushiki's function when he operated it through unknown means, the Seed Syndrome according to Tabane is where all types of necessary information would flow into him like he is the next advancement of human development, but right now... He's having a hard time understanding everything Yamada-sensei is explaining in front. "Ugh, what... what am I suppose to think, there's that circuit that and that switch over something like... ah... This is all too much for me."

"Orimura-kun, is something troubling you?"

"Huh? Wh-What?" He is called unexpectedly by someone who has noticed his troubled expression for some time now.

"Is something troubling you? As sensei of this class, you're free to ask me anything you don't understand okay?" A sweet smile yet...

"Uh, Yamada-sensei..."

"Hai, Orimura-kun?"

"I don't get any of this."

"Eh? R-Really? Ja, is anyone else having a hard time grasping the lessons?" Everyone shrugged, well, not exactly everyone but a lot of people responded in a shrugging way.

"Orimura, I'll give you a print of the lesson, take heart on it." Chifuyu said.

"H-Hai, I will."

"Hm, Yamada, continue."

"H-Hai, well then, about the..."

"Uh, when is this gonna last?"

...Meanwhile, at the entrance of IS academy...

"This is IS academy huh? Hm," A girl stands in front the entrance way where is there is no one at the moment due to all the students and instructors at their respective classrooms at the moment, this girl is rather cute, her twin pony tails are shrugging as she enters the main lobby building, and she's carrying some luggages where a lot of her stuff are stuffed in, her nationality is Chinese despite how she may look like a Japanese person. "Hm, I wonder if he's around, will he recognized me? I wonder... does he remember his promise to me? Hm, I wonder," _Ring, ring. _There's the bell, signifying that all sessions in class have ended, it last just about before it hits evening, and all students can either roam around the campus for a bit or go directly to the dormitories where even Ichika himself lives. "Hm, there will be..." A lot of passing people came passing by the girl, some of them noticed her but then they quickly returned to their own business for they may be critical or maybe because they just mistaken her for another student in this academy due to her wearing the IS academy uniform, right now she's looking for the reception where she may fill up some files so that she may become a permanent student in this institution, let's see... ah, there! That's what she thought as she spotted one receptionist, a lady in fact, considering that almost... no, not almost, _all _residents in the island are all female with the exception of Ichika who is the only male around here, but casting that aside, she just almost finish up writing all the necessary details until...

"Ne, Houki, can we have..."

"No slacking! We'll intensified your training even further."

"Ah. Darn it."

"Huh?" Looking at the hallway on the left, she sees a familiar face... and an unfamiliar one. "I-Ichika? Who- That's... That's him! I finally able to meet him again, who- Who is that?" Her stare became an angry glare when she turned to Houki. "Who is that? How come they're getting along well with one another?" Assuming something thay may never happen, she clenches her fist tightly for a competition, from her perspective anyway. "Excuse me, do you know a student named Orimura Ichika?" Turning to the receptionist, she's asking... or demanding answers.

"Hm? The boy who recently transferred here? I heard he got recently elected class representative, as expected of Chifuyu-san's little brother!" It is women's nature to gossip, but most of the women around here would squeal whenever a topic about Ichika is brought up, that and because he managed to fend off the unmanned drone the other night when he transferred here, it caused quite a popularity raise on his behalf, but... that's not the problem... "Hm, it seems you will be in the neighboring class of Orimura-kun, class 1-2, welcome to IS academy, Lingyin Huang!"

"Is the representative for class 2 already decided?"

"Eh? Uh yes, why do you ask?"

"I was hoping she would relinquish such position to me." Burn... Fire that is, is igniting behind her, meaning she's going to war... sort to speak.

...Meanwhile, at the cafeteria...

"Orimura-kun, congrulations!"

"Congratulations!" A lot of voices said, amongst them is Ichika, who is sitting on the middle seat alongside Houki who is quite distraught with all the number of people surrounding them.

"..." 'How did it come to this? I'm not some... ugh, if someone was going to send to a lab or something for study, they might as well... ugh, nevermind, I get draft on such things in my mind whenever I'm the center of attention here, oh well... but... what's with all these celebration? I don't want to celebrate! I don't want to celebrate at all."

"So, Orimura-kun, as class representative, do you have an opening statement to declare?"

'Guh, there's the reporter to that Newspaper club, Mayuzumi Kaoruko, I think, I don't quite know all of my classmate for now since I just transferred here, but right now, all I can give them is that 'I'll do my best thing' and end all these crazy paparazzi like questions all together, but... but... the problem is... there seems to be a stampede of quetions running my way and they aren't stopping anytime soon. _Sigh,_"

"You sure are popular Ichika." Houki is glaring for some reason...

"Huh? Really?"

"Hmph,"

'Guh, she's mad again, what is it this time?'

"By the way, have you heard about the transfer student that just transfered here this afternoon?"

"Eh? Transfer student?" Ichika was curious so he asked that, everyone is curious in fact.

"Ah, from China I think, she was just elected as class representative, the... the one who once held that position was... uh, threatened, I think."

"From China?" Normally, it would require an examination for someone to enroll here, Ichika, however, was special case, being the only guy to be able to operate an IS, he was allowed to enroll without taking all the proper examinations, aside from the identity checking exam, which is no exam at all, he was allowed here willingly due to all sort of special cases, but in other's situations however, it would require recommendation from their own country, specifically China is where this new transfer student hails from, so... that means... "Wait, China? Hm," Ichika remembers a certain someone from his past, someone who owns a Chinese restaurant, he wonders if she still does so, this is a girl by the way, and she's almost like... no, she _is _a childhood friend next to Houki, and... "Hm, Rin... I wonder how is she..."

"Come to think of it, the class competition will be starting soon huh?"

"...? Class competition?"

"Ah, it's where a class representative will lead the entire class against another class to victory."

"That means, Orimura-kun will lead us to victory!"

"Yay!"

"Ugh." While everyone is cheering about their supposed to be destined victory, to them at least, Ichika could only grimaces of how he will act when the time has come. "I... will... be leading?"

"Ah, that's why... you best increase you training ten time from now on." Houki is sounding... sheepish, to some degree, perhaps it means she'll be spending more time with him with all the preparation to the class competition, and a certain... affection. "I will... glady... I..."

"Hm? What is it?" Feeling sluggish, Ichika asked with a sad face, well, pale would be the best description to it.

"Huh? Ah nothing, just... don't disappoint everyone."

"If Orimura-kun wins, the entire class will be happy!"

"All of us will help."

"Yay!"

"Ugh," Again, despite the cheery atmosphere, Ichika is feeling gloomy. "How did it come to this?"

"You will win for us right Orimura-kun?"

"You will lead us all to victory right?"

"Uh... I will..." _Sharp, Sharp! _A seed... being cut in half... brilliant of light spreading... Ichika's eyes becoming blackish... and... information flowing through him... and his senses become sharp... to the point of being aware of one's surrounding... and... a certain... sixth sense... "...I will, I assure you all."

"Yay!" He said that with a slight confident face and everyone is happy, he cannot let them down afterall.

"Do your best for us Orimura-kun!"

"At this point, only the representatives of class 1 and 4 have personal IS, so it should be easy!"

"Your information is outdated" A voice at the end of the corridor said.

"Huh?" Everyone turns to it.

"Who..." Ichika is the first to recognize that someone who is standing there in a... boastful, if one is not being too secretive about it, this girl is... "You... are... Rin?"

"That's right, the class representative of class 2 has their own persona IS too, you know! And I'm that person, I'm Huang Lingyin, the representative candidate of China! And I have come to declare war!"

"..." Everyone is in awe, or distraught from her boastful attitude, then they all turn to Ichika.

"Ah, Rin, why are you acting tought and confident? It doesn't suit your style."

"Wha...? What are you saying all of the sudden? I-" _Strike! _"Gyah! Ow, that hurt... Why you- Gyah!"

"You're in the way, everyone is going through." Chifuyu Orimura, the feared teacher around here, as well as beloved by some who can be considered her followers, though more likely admirers, comes at the hall where Ling was blocking the way, and she proceeded to get rid of the obstacle... by a hit on the head by a notebook.

"C-Chifuyu-san..." _Strike! _

"Call me Orimura-sensei, if you're not going on, step aside."

"H-Hai." Two teachers, with Yamada-sensei apologizing to Ling, passed through.

"_Sigh, _I'll be back, don't run away Ichika!" Then she left.

"...She's here... Rin is here." Ichika's eyes reverted back to normal, signifying that the Seed Syndrome has passed for a while.

"...Ichika, who was that? It seems you are acquianted with her."

"What was that about?"

"I don't know, is she that transfer student?"

"It seems Orimura-kun knows her." Everyone, including Houki, turns to Ichika.

"Ichika, who was that?" She demanded while grasping her wooden sword, it's still hard as hell if one can feel her wrath.

"Oh, she's Rin, her fullname is Huang Lingyin, she's from China."

"Then she's the transfer student."

"Hm," Everyone started talking about it.

"Anyway, what was that about? What is your relationship with that girl?" With a grasped sword, Houki asked that.

"You all shouldn't remain here for too long, everyone is expected to be at their dorms once everyone is done eating, those who are done, return immediately." Chifuyu said, she's also in charge of the students around who are still roaming here despite not having any business, the only place where she doesn't have authority with is the courtyard and the dormitories. Everyone, who is done eating, left Ichika and Houki who are still eating.

"Orimura, I have something to discuss with you after you're done eating, come to the faculty immediately after you're done."

"H-Hai, okay."

"Hm, sa, I'll have something like..."

"Oh, can you Orimura-sensei have something like..." As Chifuyu and Yamada-sensei discussed something about dinner...

"Hm, guest I better get going-"

"Hold it Ichika, we have something to discuss... in your room."

"Huh?" Normally, this is like inviting someone into one's room... for... well... casting all the naughty thoughts aside... "Wh-What is it? We can discuss it..."

"I'll see you there." Houki left with her tray.

"Uh..."

"Hm, wonder... Hm, I'll see what will happen." It seems Chifuyu was aware of their conversation but... she may have done it out of protectiveness for her own brother or... maybe... a sign of... affection... that...

"Hm? Orimura-sensei? Is something wrong? You were staring at Orimura-kun a while ago."

"Huh? Oh uh nothing, anyway, you want some sugar? Here."

"Eh? Uh, that's... that's sault not sugar, it's..."

"Here you Yamada, you can drink this right?"

"Uh no I- Gyaah!"

...Meanwhile, at the hallway...

"That Houki... what was she..." Ichika is walking down the hallway until...

"Found you Ichika! Hehe, think you can get away from me huh?" Until he was caught by the infamous transfer student, Huang Lingyin, a.k.a Rin, as that is the name Ichika came to used to in calling her when she was still with him during their junior highschool days, she and a certain someone who is a friend to Ichika, to him at least, that someone is the president of the student council in Saint Marianne Academy, where... casting that aside, Rin and that person have a rivalry of sort, both in affection and in running a restaurant, a japanese and chinese restaurant to be precise, it's a battle of nationality... and romance. But... No, that's not important, what is important right now is... "Thought you could get away from me?"

"Rin... what do you want, it's been a... a while since we met, you've grown and... uh..." Looking at her petite body, Ichika looks away blushing.

"Wh-What is it? Why are you... it's okay if you think so you know... and... you can... look at... uu..." She's blushing as well.

"Hm? What is it? Are you sick?"

"Huh? Wha..."

"You don't seem to have a fever."

"Uu." Ichika touched her forehead, which made her blush in red more than a potato, Ichika's own blush was quickly brushed away by concern for her reddish face. "Wh-There's nothing wrong with me, a-anyway, will you come with me for a sec?"

"Huh? Uh okay, ja, where are we going?"

"Just... come with me." She grabbed his hand and they walk towards the corridor, where some girls, specifically Nohohon-san and her two usual friends, spotted them and then soon a lot of crowd gather for another tailing for gathering information on the subject: Orimura Ichika, well, relating to missions anyway. Casting that aside, Ichika and Rin go to the nearby lockers where Rin offerred a bottle of water, in case he's thirsty, and he's not.

...Meanwhile, at room 1025...

"..." Only the sound of the air conditioner is echoing here, with Houki's tapping on the floor next, she's sitting on one of the beds that is provided here and she is still wielding her own wooden sword that is used for training, she's waiting for the residents of this room. "...Hm... Ur... Urr... He's late! Where is he? That Ichika..." _Keplunk. _Opening the door, Houki observes the hall, it's empty, no sign of the one she's waiting for. "Geez, that guy... he's so careless, careless! I wonder where he is..." She decided to explore around the dormitory to check for him.

...Meanwhile, at the lockers...

"Here, are you thirsty?"

"Oh uh no, not really, so, what did you want to talk about?"

"What's with that? It's been a while as we speak, you never sent my anything to remind me of how you were doing... and..."

"We haven't met for a year huh? How are you doing? Is your family okay? How's your restaurant?"

"It's... Okay, and... how about you? At least get sick for once."

"...Huh?" 'What kind of wish is that? She's usually like this as far as I can remember her attitude when we were attending at the same school.'

"Well, how's aunt? How's your... uh..."

"Nevermind about me, how are you? How are you able to operate an IS? I was shocked when I saw you on the news."

"Oh uh well..." Remembering the time when he first got here, and when he entered into a state where he can observe and gather information more quicker in a way that he is very perplexed when it happened to him the first time, but when he got to it, everything made sense like they were how it should be, it's beyond words of how to explain it but that's the quicker version of its explanation. "I managed to get here and... Chifuyu-nee enrolled me here and after that... after that..." After that, there were a lot of complicated matters, being the center of attention of almost every girls in the academy...

Speaking of girls... "Hey, what are they saying?"

"I don't know, I can't hear their conversation so clearly? Get in closer."

"N-No way." A lot of girls are eavesdropping to their conversation from the hallway that is currently packed with a lot of people, mainly girls... all of them are girls in fact.

"Well anyway, I was shocked that it was actually you who transferred here, why didn't you tell me?"

"Well... It's because... It's because..." Rin shakes the bottle of water in-between her legs nervously. "It's because... It's because..."

"Hm?"

"..." Blushing... blushing...

"...Well, if you don't want to tell me, I gotta go."

"Huh? H-Hey, wait up! Where are you going?"

"Huh? I got some appointment to attend, Houki will probably be..."

"Houki?" Remembering Houki, the one with the sword, as far as she can remember, that sword is the only symbol that she remembers from her. "You mean..."

"Ah, my childhood friend."

"Childhood friend...?"

"Ah, she was the first and you were the second, it's kinda like... uh..." Measuring the measurement of how long the reign of childhood meter... in a childhood meter that is, Ichika could speculate that Rin was the last one he was with, they could stay at her family restaurant and at her own room for a sleepover, with courtesy from her parents of course, well, that aside... "Well anyway, I gotta go, catch you later."

"H-Hey! Wait up!"

"Uwa, Orimura-kun is coming, split up!"

"Hyaa!" Everyone who is eavesdropping started running about in all types of direction.

"Huh?" Ichika saw a lot of them before all of them disappeared from sight. "What the..."

"You're slow, I've been waiting for you." Chifuyu emerged from the nearby hallway with her jogging suit on.

"Eh? Chifuyu-nee? Wha-" _Strike! _"Ow!"

"Orimura-sensei, that's what you should address me."

"...Hai, Orimura-sensei."

"Alright, ja, let's go, we're going to the field for a little warm up."

"H-Hai."

"U, Chifuyu-san, why do you... Oh well, I guess I'll ask around." Rin, who saw the entire scenario, decided not to intervine seeing that Chifuyu was around the corner, and one thing one must remind one's self is to stir away once the devil himself is here... though that is just allegory.

...At the field...

"Chifuyu-nee, what are- I-I mean Orimura-sensei, what did you brought me here for?"

"You should get used to how you should address authorities here or I'll show you no mercy."

"Hai." This is like being treated 'kindly' by the demon of hell.

"Anyway, I'm here to test you out."

"Eh?"

"Seeing that the class competition will be stirring around in the corner, I better prepare you for what is to come."

"Huh?"

"Sa, deploy your IS."

"Eh?"

"I said deploy your IS!"

"H-Hai!" With a wooden sword in hand, Chifuyu seems ready to go on all out on this, preparation for the storm that awaits, the calm before the storm that is... _Flash! _Through the gauntlet, Ichika summoned Byakushiki. "Well, now what?"

"Now, I'm going to..." _Strike! _

"Ow! Hey! What was that for!"

"Hm, you didn't react to that, you're slow at pacing at your own pace and in your environment."

"Eh?"

"In the army, there are no warnings, only you have to be aware of everything in your surrounding, a sniper would find you an easy prey to deal with should you be targetted you know."

"Huh?" Right, in a battlefield, one must be always conscious and aware of one's environment, there are snipers all over the place and if you're not careful, whoever moves first, loses, and by loss, it means... well, losing one's life for one, the other one, you might be filled with holes in the next morning... well, casting all that idioms aside, what Chifuyu is starting to teach Ichika is how to manuever things in a battlefield, seeing that he's class representative, he's going to have to battle the other classes soon and he will lead the entire class of class 1-1 for an open war with the other class right here in this very field, which means it's no joke.

"So that being said, I'm going to teach you what it means to be a rough leader, sa, prepare yourself." _Flash. _Chifuyu deployed a Practice IS.

"Uh..." This is going to be rough... very rough... as rough as hell can be... "I'm..." '...doomed.' With that, the training from hell has begun...

_...Bang, Clash, Clash, Boom, Boom, Boom! _All sort of sounds are coming from the field, with two figures clashing... well, actually, the one figure, Chifuyu, is the one doing all the assault and Ichika... well, he's just standing about, normally, his Seed Syndrome would close the deal for him, but not in this situation, it seems that state can only be achieved through an experience wherein it may be necessarily required, meaning it would only rise up whenever it wishes to, not on Ichika's desire... if one can put it simply anyway.

...A while later... it's already midnight so...

"_Huff, huff, _I give up." Ichika, lying on the ground, exhaling and inhaling some deep air, said.

"Hm, you're pathetic, though everyone is highly supportive of you, you don't seem to be very strong for a leader."

"Ah, yeah..." 'Cruel words... they're true though.'

"Ma, that's all for tonight, prepare yourself for another time." Just when Chifuyu was about to walk away... "Tch," She gritted her teeth, 'He's not strong enough, if he remains this way, that beast...' ...Beast... yes... a beast... preying upon its prey... it will soon come in contact... with her... no, in her mind, she'll do whatever she can to prevent that beast from laying its claw and hand into this island, not while she's around anyway.

"_Huff, _Chifuyu-nee, can I-" _Strike! _"Ow!"

"Orimura-sensei is how you should address me." _Flash. _Chifuyu dismissed the Practice IS.

"Hai, Orimura-sensei..." _Flash._ Ichika dismissed Byakushiki.

"Sa, get a goodnight sleep, I'll be expecting you here again the other session when you didn't come." Right, one time Ichika forgot to come here when Chifuyu instructed him to, now he knows that it is not better to make the same mistake twice, less the sharp notebook on Chifuyu's desk would be sharp as hell, so best not consider that an option.

"_Sigh, _I guess I'll go back to my room."

...At the door of room 1025...

"_Sigh, _I'm so tired. _Sigh,_" Everyone is already asleep as expected, all the other dorms are all silent and some of which... the room of Nohohon-san is seems to be buzzing with some exciting conversation regarding the word "Orimu"... which means... well, it's not really important as Ichika is very tired to think clearly right now so... the only thing in his mind is to go straight to bed and-

"You're late! I've been waiting for you!"

"Huh...?" Focusing his mind before much later, he can see... someone... sitting by the bed... it's Rin. "R-Rin...? What are you...? R-Rin! What are you... You can't be here! Chifuyu-nee would- Oh, I mean, Orimura-sensei will-!"

"Nevermind that for now, anyway, you have two beds here right? Hm, hmhm, not look bad, maybe I can stay here?"

"Huh?" 'What she talking about? She's not thinking of...'

"Ja, I decided," Laying down her bag, which is probably full of her stuff, on the bed, she declares... "Alright, from now on, this is my room too! Yeah!" ...that she's a resident of this room now.

"Wh-Wha- Th-That's- Don't be ridiculous, if you don't want both of us to-"

"Ichika!" Another voice from the hall...

"Huh? That's..."

_Dan, Dan! Keplunk! _"There you are, and- What are you doing here?" Stomping in a very strong and rude manner, Houki stumbled upon Ichika... and Rin in the same room.

"Oh, it's you, I could ask you the same question, what are you doing here? You're intruding you know, there are dorm regulations."

"Th-The same goes for you! Ichika, what is the meaning of this? Chifuyu-san told me you trained with her, but didn't I ask you to come to me before that? Where were you-"

"Oh, he and I were having a private conversation."

"Eh?"

"Eh?" Ichika and Houki felt a little surprised at that, Ichika is confused of how she declared it as a private conversation while Houki... "Ichika... you..." Flames... of rage... rage of a samura... girl... ha ha...

"W-Wait, Houki, it's not-"

"Bastard-!" _Tsst! _Swinging forth a wooden sword,

_Block! _"Oh, didn't I forget to mention? I have my own personal IS too." Rin summoned the arm of her IS through the bracelet on her arm.

"R-Rin, why are you-"

"You bitch, I'm gonna...!" With sheer force...

"Geh, let's see what you got, ugh, urgh."

"Let's see how strong your mettle, hiya!" _ Whoosh, whoosh! _

"Wh-Whoa, hey, what are you- Stop that! Houki, you're gonna-" _ Shatter, shatter! _Too late, rampage is acrossing the room of 1025...

...All the while... "Hm? What is that?" Nohohon-san heard a commotion, it seems something is going on... at the other room.

"I think it's Yamada-sensei... We better get to bed."

"A sleepover then."

"Ah, sure."

"Sounds nice. Ja, good night." The three friends flock together in a three semi-double deck bed, it's rare for a room to have this type of resting place, but there are rare exception as Nohohon-san is said to have a sibling who is a senior here and she may be the one who have filled up all sort of decorative and luxurious stuff for her here but... casting this aside for a while...

...Back at 1025 room...

_Shatter, shatter! Slamp! Slam! Slamp! _"O-Oi, the bed is gonna break if you-" _Creek! _"Guh." Too late, the bed, the one on the left, depends on one's point of view, has been bent and cracked due to the two girls who are fighting in this room.

"Prepare yourself!"

"Ready when you are!"

"Hey, stop! STOP!"

...Downstairs, at the faculty office...

"Hm? What the...?" Chifuyu and Yamada-sensei are still up, putting some stuff away in the closets but...

"What was that just now?"

"I think it's..." _Crack! Crash! _

"Ahh!" Three people exclaimed altogether as they fell at the ceiling of the faculty office.

"O-Orimura-kun, Shinonono-san and... uh..."

"What are you doing?"

"Uh..." Three people, with one bed they're standing on, fell from the ceiling, probably because the weight couldn't support anymore so... they ended up here... in the devil's lair.

...Later...

_Strike, strike, strike! _"Ow." The three said altogether with a bruise on their heads.

"Geez, you're all causing trouble around here, geez, with the state of the room you're all on, there will be probably a room replacement for Orimura."

"..." The latter's room has been thrashed utterly during the commotion, leaving only... well, everything... is in ruined. "Uh... I will..."

"_Sigh, _geez, you kids, Orimura, Yamada will lead you to another room, Shinonono, and you... Fann."

"H-Hai?"

"What do you think you're doing? Last I check you were assigned to another room, what is your explanation?"

"Um I... uh..." _Strike! _Since silence and a few stutters were all of her responses were, she received a hit.

"Well, you're all dismissed, go, Orimura, follow Yamada."

"H-Hai, ja, Orimura-kun, follow me."

"Hai... _Sigh._"

...Later, at the dormitories...

This is a different section of the dormitories, some of the assinged room numbers bear a resemblance to some other rooms, the reason for this is... well, one is that it may lack some room assignments and the other... assuming of course if something like what happened to Ichika's room should occur, these will be substitutes for those wrecked rooms. "Well, here we are, Orimura-kun, your new room from today onwards."

"Hai." It's the same number by the way, 1025.

"Um, please... please don't think badly of Orimura-sensei, she's only... concern... for all of us, and you... Orimura-kun."

"Hai." Perhaps feeling remorse for Ichika's troubled expression, she attempted to reason Chifuyu's strict treatment. "Ja, good night."

"Hai, good night."

"Hm," _Keplunk. _"Hm?" With such amazement, the state of this room is the exact interior and exterior decoration of the previous room that was wrecked. "Hm, so much work, they must be devoted." Ichika is referring to the carpenters that went all out in doing the same arrangement of things here, or are those who moved those things here? Well, that doesn't matter, what matters is that he lost all the energies for the day, so it's time for some shut eye. "Ah, so tired, can't... keep eyes... o... pen... ah." He fell on the bed that is the nearest and fell asleep as soon as possible.

...Meanwhile, in the deep level of the sea...

_Whoosh, blaast! _"Target: IS academy, proceeding." An unmanned drone that is similar to the first one, that is a Golem, and this one is a Golem as well, remarks on its intended destination as it goes through the torrent of the sea that is full of cave-ins, followed by some... un... non-living beings, zombies that are piloting some damaged IS, they make their way to their intended destination. _Whoosh, whoosh! _They all disappear as the blurry vision in this part of the sea is always blurry that anything that goes far will easily evade the sight of many, where these undead beings can strike from the shadows.

...The next day, at the field...

"Today, we'll doing some power-up manuevers, all of you, split into five groups."

"Hai!" It's the Physical education again, the subject where one will demonstrate an IS manuever, there are more people here, well, one is added actually, it's Rin who is with Class 2.

"_Sigh, _what a day, I haven't got much sleep last night."

"Ah, same here."

"Geez, that Ichika..." Ichika, Houki and Rin are all tired from all the recent activities last night, like vandalism for one, and now they are all here in the field where they must exert some effort and energy at the same time to achieve something. Well, just a demonstration but that should be no problem, well, except last time, Ichika and Houki brawled against each other before the demonstration and Ichika... he has made a mistake in manuevering Byakushiki's course and ended up making a hole in the field, which Houki berated him for being weak. "Hey, mind if I..."

"No way." Rin was going to ask if she could join their group that consist of five, with two more female students joining from class 2, there's no rule that is preventing others from joining other class but, Houki outwardly rejected her request.

"Hey, I wasn't speaking to you, Ichika, there's no problem right?"

"Can we Orimura-kun?" The two girls asked earnestly.

"Hai, you can." Not really caring who he is paired up to, Ichika allowed it.

"Yay!" "Alright."

"Tch, Ichika." Houki disapproved of it however.

"Hm? What? We're all five now right? That should be enough right?"

"Hmph, whatever you desire can be outwitted."

"...?" 'What does that mean? Is she accusing me of stealing from other classes? Hey, it's okay to ask others to come to other class right?'

'That Ichika... why would he allow HER to be in this group?'

"Hm, hmph." It seems Houki and Rin are sharing a staring contest with some avatars... as the manifestation of their desire to compete and win and defeat the other is manifested into a dragon and a tiger... as symbolism of their personality it seems.

"Huh? Did I saw a spark or something?"

"Ooh, is there something going on?"

"I don't know, but it sounds thrilling, he he." While the two girls could giggle at the sudden development, Ichika felt the impact of their sharing of glaring to one another.

"Anyway, this is the suitable location, we'll practice here."

"Alright, ja, you all follow my lead."

"Hey, I'm the one who is giving instructions here."

"Huh? You got a problem with me?" Houki and Rin are at it again.

"Hey, come on now, we don't want to get in trouble so..."

...Amidst the forest... _Rustle, rustle... Pin. _"Target: Confirmed." A red sensor emanated from the ground where there are a lot of bushes and trees.

"Hm?" One of the girls from class 2 heard something like... something... crawling... beneath the ground... and... _crawwl... crawl... grab. _"Huh? Wha-"

"Ahh~" A... ...zombie...

"W-Waah..."

"Anyway, let's all..."

"Gyaah!"

"Huh?"

"Gyah! H-Help!" Just as when Ichika was able to break up both Rin and Houki, one of their group member squealed in a non-exciting way as...

"What the..."

_Crawl! Grumble! _"Grooaar."

"Ahh~ Grooarr." The dead... has risen... as...

"Wh-What the!"

"Wha-!"

"Ahh~"

"Gyaah!"

"Wh-What are... What are those!"

"Hey, let go of her!" _Stomp! _

"Grooaarr." Rin stomped on the foot of the zombie that laid its undead hand on the girl who is a classmate of hers.

"Gee, what are you..."

"Ahh~"

"Gyah!" One snuck up behind her.

"Rin!"

"Hiyaa!" _Strike! _

"Ahh~" Houki struck first at the zombie and it's sent to the ground... the diturbing sight is...

"Ah." Ichika intended to help Rin but... all of them are disturbed by the sight of...

"Ahh~ Grooaar." ...An headless... or rather, the head... still... moving...

"Gyaah!"

"Guah!"

"Orimura-kun!" The two girls hide behind Ichika as well as Houki.

"Wh-What matter of... What is it!"

"How should I know! From all we know it's a monster!"

"R-Relax everyone." Just as Houki and Rin become agitated of the situation, Ichika tries to calm down everyone.

"How can you be calm after seeing THAT!"

"W-Well," _Stomp, stomp. _"Huh? What the?" Looking at the forest...

"Target, confirmed." A Golem, aiming at them... with its beam particles...

"What the, is that...?"

"IS?" Ichika and Rin are the first to speak up as the sight of the Golem is unexpected and they do not know when did it appeared.

"Removing target from sight." _Blast! _

"Whoa, everyone, watch out!"

"Huah!" _Boom! _

...From afar... "Hm? What the?"

"Did something happened? Isn't that where Orimura-kun and Shinonono's group are training?" Chifuyu and Yamada-sensei heard the screaming.

"What the...?" _Boom! Boom! _"Wha-!" A tremor shaked the ground.

"Ahh!"

"Huah."

"What the?" Everyone else is shaken by the impact.

"O-Orimura-sensei, what...?"

"This tremor... Hm," _Tap, tap! _

"Orimura-sensei!" Chifuyu and Yamada run up to the spot where the explosions are coming from.

...Back to Ichika and the others...

"Ugh, huh?"

"Ahh~ Grooaar."

"Grooaarr."

"Target: Aiming: Target-"

"Teme, hiyaa!" _Flash! _Ichika deployed his IS, Byakushiki, then charged for the Golem's face where the sensor is.

_Blast! Boom! _"_Huff, huff, _is everyone- Huh?" Chifuyu and Yamada arrived at the scene.

"Hiyaa!" _Clash! _

_Pin, pin. _"Target: Confirmed." Despite the claw of Byakushiki reaching the sensor, it's undamaged, and... _Tsing, boom! _

"Ahh!" Ichika is sent flying back to the ground.

"Orimura-kun!"

"Orimura, what is... Huh?"

"Ahh~"

"Grooaarr."

"Grooaarr." A bunch of zombies showed up as well as...

_Stomp, stomp, whoosh. _"Grooaar." Zombies who are politing damaged IS rose up from the forest.

"What in the...?" Of all her years of training, Chifuyu never encountered something like this, but... They should pose no problem for her.

"O-Orimura-sensei, these are..."

"What is going on in there?"

"Come on, let's go take a look." A horde of girls arrived at the scene, adding to the danger.

"You idiots, stay back!"

"P-Please, everyone, there's nothing to see here, it's..."

"Target: Confirmed." _Blaast... _

"Hm," _Flash! _Chifuyu summoned a katana that is that of an IS, she seems to posses unique strength and beauty as well. "Come at me!" She dared the Golem that is charging. _Blast, Boom! Boom! _

"Waah!" All of the girls that are witnesses to this phenomenon are blown away by the explosion.

"O-Orimura-sensei!"

"C-Chifuyu-nee!"

The smoke clears out, revealing... "That's Orimura-sensei to you!" _Whoosh! Slice, slice! _

"Grooaarr!"

"Grooaarr!"

"Ahh~" _Slice, slice! _Chifuyu dispatched some of the zombies and some of those that are piloting the damaged IS.

"Ahh~"

"Ahh, grooarr." _Tsing, tsing, bang, bang, boom, boom! _

"Hm," _Boom, boom! _Chifuyu prepared to dispatch the rest that retaliated. From amidst the smoke,_ Whoosh! Slice! _She managed to dispatch them with one long slash. _Boom, boom! _

"Grooaarr." All of the zombies are dispatched.

"Ahh~" But some arrived more in force and most of them are...

"Ahh~"

"Grooaarr." _Whoosh, whoosh. _A bunch of IS, being piloted by a lot of non-living beings, zombies, came flying in from above.

"Waah!" "What are those?"

"There's a lot of them!"

"Everyone, please head for safety, it's too dangerous here!" Yamada told the others.

"Yaah!" Everyone ran for it but...

"Grooar." _Tsing, tsing, tsing, boom, boom! _

"Ahh!" One zombie fired at the path where they are going, setting up a fire that is large that it prevents them from leaving the forest, to make matters worse... _Blaaze, blaaze. _The entire forest might be set on fire.

"Oh no!"

"O-Orimura-sensei!"

"Tch, this is annoying, hm? Ge," Chifuyu tries to maintain her composure but all of the zombies that are on IS focused their attentions on her, making her handicapped.

"Grooaar!"

"Grooaar!"

"Ahh~" _Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! _All types of IS that are air manuevers all went to her.

_Block, Clash, Clash! _"Ge, urgh, bastards...!"

"Grooaarr!"

"Grooaarr!" She's trying to block them all off to no avail, there's just too many of them and the ones who are here are...

"Kyaah!"

"Ahh~"

"Everyone! Orimura-sensei!" Yamada tries to get everyone together but some of them are captured by the zombies who seem to posses at least, some human knowledge, though they are doing it like a bunch of deranged creatures like they are drunk and their drool...

"Eew!"

"Kyaah!"

"E-Everyone!" Ichika regains his composure.

"Bastards, you're going to pay for this! Hiyaa!" _Flash! _Houki deployed a Practice IS then started helping out. _Slice, slice! _

"Ahh~"

"Grooaarr!" _Slice! _Some of the zombies holding the others as hostages perished with their bodies being split in half.

"Alright, I guess it's time to show you off, alright, Shenlong!" _Flash! _Rin deployed her personal IS, the Shenlong. "Alright, let's go, hiyaa!" _Whoosh! _With a double-edged sword in hand, which she attached together, she charges forth towards the Golem that is most likely the one that led all these astray abominations to this place. "Hiya, you'll pay for all of these attack! Hiya!" _Clash! _

_Pin, pin, aink. _With some minor halt to its sensor range, it's still managed to aim at Rin who is standing atop its left shoulder part. "Target: Confirmed." Then one particle ray that is on its arm, it rotates then aims at Rin, making her vulnerable.

"Huh?" _Blaast... Blast! _"Whoa!" _Whoosh! Boom! _She managed to avoid contact with the particle beam by jumping backward and it hit the Golem instead.

"Rin!"

"Hiya! Die!" _Clash! Slash! _A direct hit to the Golem, making its sensor jammed at the moment, but..._Strang, strang. _Particle beam cannons are the backup armaments should all sensory fail, they emerged from the shoulders, arms and feet of the Golem. _Tsing, Tsing, Tsing! _ "Wah! A-Ahh!" _Whoosh, whoosh! _Rin flew away from the Golem's shoulder for safety. "What the...?"

"Grooaarr!" _Grab! _

"H-yahh!" She is captured by one zombie with an IS from behind.

"Rin!"

"Ahh~"

"Grooaarr!" Then two more came to restraint her.

"Rin!"

"Ling-san!"

"Class representative!"

"Hey, watch out!" Everyone, including Houki who was hostile to Rin earlier, started to become worry, the situation is escalating, at this rate...

"Ge," Ichika turns to the Golem, despite its sensor being damaged, it can still see to some minimum and its target is...

"Target... Confirmed." The image of Ichika with an aiming target on it is seen by the Golem, then it becomes red, meaning it's now accurate.

"Ge," Ichika realizes he's in a world of trouble. _Blast! _It fired. "..."

"Ah!"

"Wah!"

"Ugh, huh?"

"Huh?"

"Wha...?" Everyone turns to Ichika who is about to be disintegrated by the approaching beam partical ray that the Golem fired, even Rin, who is still being grasped by three zombies, is getting worried.

"Ichika!"

"Ichika!"

"Orimura-kun!"

"Orimura-kun!"

"Hey, Orimura, get out of there!"

_Blast! _"Urgh, ge," _Sharp! _"Huh?" Everything is becoming... slower... and... _Sharp, Sharp! _A seed... being sliced in half... and a... brilliant... of light... scattering... "..." Ichika's eyes become dark... and... _Pin. _

"Zero System: Activated."

"...Ah, understood." Mentality at its best and the zero function ready for combat... all that remains is... _Blaast... Boom! Block! _Smoke covered the scene.

"Ah!"

"Wah!"

"Orimura-kun!"

"Ichika!" _Clasp! Strike! _"Hiya!" Strike!

"Grooaarr!"

"Hiya!" _Strike! _

"Grooaarr!" Rin managed to free herself from those that are preventing her from being released and is preventing her from rescuing the one man who has shown her much happiness in the past and now...

"Ichika!"

"Target: Confirmed."

"Huh?" _Blast, Blaast! _

"W-Waah!" The Golem just fired another particle ray and it's aimed at Rin. "Waah!" _...Block, Boom! _

Something came to block its path and protected Rin, and that is... "I won't allow you to harm my comrades." Ichika.

"Huh?"

"Hm?"

"Orimura-kun?"

"Orimura-kun."

"Hm?" The rest are in awe of what just transpired, at first, they thought Ichika was still below under the smoke screen that is filling the area but then he was there, and now...

"Sa te," With the helmet for the Zero System active, all sort of info about the enemies are sighted and their weaknesses exploited, now all that is left is... "Annihilate all enemies." _Whoosh! _Ichika charged forward. _Blaast! _The Golem fired another beam cannon. _Block! _He activated the Reiraku Byakuya special ability to negate the particle beam effect then, _Whoosh!, _using the Ignition Boost, the velocity increased ten fold and then he went to the lower part of the Golem. "Hiyaa!" _Slice, Sliice, sliiice! _then he sliced it upward, cutting it off in half.

"_Static... static... Over... load... Cannot... compute..." _

_Stomp! _Then Ichika stood above the Golem's cut off head, then using a sensory range from the helmet of the Zero system, some particle cannons are deployed from all parts of the Byakushiki, then Ichika aimed all the remaining zombies that are taking hostages still while the rest are being fend off by Chifuyu and Houki, but now.. .everything... _Ting, ting, ting! _Green weapon pods are then released at the back where they are all surfaced, these type of armaments can only be used should the Zero system is used, and now Ichika has been able to use the Byakushiki's system to its fullest.

"Huh? That's..." Chifuyu is speechless at the armaments that her younger brother presents, these are...

"Hiyaa!" _Tsing, Tsing, Boom, Boom! Tsing, Tsing, Boom, Boom! Tsing, Tsing, Tsing, Boom, Boom, BOOM! _"Hiyaa!" _Whoosh! Slice, Slice, Boom! _

"Ahh!"

"Wah!" _Shing! _"Huh?" A barrier is erected to protect everyone.

"Wah."

"This is..."

"Grooaarr!"

"Ahh~" _Boom, Boom! Tsing, Tsing! Boom, Boom! _Ichika used all the particle cannons that emerged out of the Byakushiki's hidden compartments then the weapon pods destroyed all that remains of the straggling zombies, then Ichika sliced an X mark on the Golem's face, destroying its sensor for good.

"Hiya!" _Sliice! _Then he sliced off the torso, where the core is located, it was damaged as a result. _Boom, Boom, BOOM! _

"Ahh!"

"Waah!"

"Ichika!"

"Ichika!" Everyone is protected by the barrier that is again, one of Byakushiki's hidden compartment that was not used before by the previous owner.

Smoke is covering the area, the barrier banished and there are only parts of the damaged IS that were being pilot by the zombies on the ground, and the zombies themselves lay dead on the ground and the parts of the Golem are scattered with a hole on where it was standing. "Hm, what the..." Chifuyu observes her younger brother flies down from above, then the zero system helmet is removed, and some of the other weapons of Byakushiki as well. The IS is now back its original combat manuever mode. "...It's done." Ichika said, his eyes are still blackish, signifying that the Seed Syndrome hasn't passed yet.

"..." Chifuyu noticed those eyes, they look... familiar.. ."Ichika, you... Just like... Tabane said... the next... evolution... of..."

"Kyaah!"

"Orimura-kun!"

"You saved us!"

"Ichika!"

"Ichika!"

"Yay!" Everyone gathers at Ichika.

His eyes returned to normal, signifying the passing of the Seed Syndrome. "Ah, my head..."

"Orimura-kun!"

"Kyaah!"

"Huh? Everyone, I... G-Guaah!" He is pinned to the ground with many admirers going all over him.

"Hey, Ichika, how did you do that? I didn't know you could do that?"

"Eh? Uh, I was just... uh..." Being grabbed by Rin, he managed to regain his composure.

"Ichika!" Then he was grabbed Houki. "I wasn't expecting that from you, it seems your training has improved."

"Eh? I..."

"Kyaah! Orimura-kun!"

"W-Waah! Ow, that hurts, hey! Not there! I- Guargh!"

"I-Ichika, how dare you- Let go of them you perv!" The reason why Houki is outraged is because due to him being pinned down by the girls, he is able to... well, touch their... breasts and other...

"Guaah, stop, stop!"

"Orimura-kun!"

"Hey, Ichika, you dirty dog! Let go of them! I said let go!"

"E-Everyone, please calm down, we can't... Orimura-kun can't..." Yamada-sensei tries to calm the lovestruck girls from swooning over Ichika, which is kinda injuring him in the process, but to no avail.

"...Seed Syndrome... Hm, Ichika, you..." Chifuyu is the only one who is not enthuastic. "Then Ichika, you will most likely... see... that... beast."

...Later that night, at room 1025...

"Wha, What a day, today has been... tiring, Seed Syndrome huh? Hm, when was the last time... It seems to be activating on itself and I... Hm, I'm finding it hard to explain it myself, it's like I feel like I'm becoming... smart and..." _Keplunk. _"Hm?"

"Ichika? Are you here?"

"Oh, Rin, you can't come in, you don't want to end up like last time." Ichika came from the balcony to think about things then Rin came.

"I know, I just wanted to say... thanks, you really saved me back there."

"Huh? Uh well, no, it's nothing to be worked up about, that's what friends do right?"

"Y-Yeah... G-Girlfriend... right?"

"Huh?"

"N-Nothing, I just..."

"Ichika." _Keplunk. _"Ichika, are you- You." Houki comes in, then at the sight of Rin, she becomes angry, causig her, _Tsst, _to draw forth her wooden sword.

"H-Houki."

"You again, what do you want?"

"What are you doing here? In this room, are you..."

"Hey, you two, calm down, we don't want troubles in our heads right? So let's talk this over."

...Later...

"So, you're saying that Ling is your second childhood friend."

"Hai, we've been known each other during our junior highschool days, I think it was about... uh, when I left the dojo and..."

"I see."

"Well, that's about it." Rin took a sip of her soda, the three of them, Ichika, Houki and Rin, are sitted at the balcony, enjoying the fresh air, drinking sodas provided by Ichika and talked about things. "Well, since Ichika is not yet fully recovered from earlier battles, I'll volunteer to look after him, so you better just shoo away Shinonono."

"Y-You do that one! I'll... I'll... I'm the one training him here in this academy, so it's my responsibility that he doesn't fall weak under you!"

"Huh? What is that supposed to mean?" Another conflict.

"Whoa hey, I don't want to be transfer to another room again so let's not do this okay?"

"Then let me heal you!" They both said.

"Uh that..."

...Later...

"...U..."

"..."

"..." Ichika is sleeping on the bed near the door while Rin and Houki are sleeping on the other bed, they volunteered that they'll stay with Ichika for a while to look after his injuries after the fighting so they can stay in this room for a while, without permission though, but no one else knew so this should be okay, for them at least.

"What the heck, how did it end up to this?"

"This girl Ling is very aggressive, I better do the same."

"This girl Houki is Ichika's first childhood friend huh? Hm, very well, it's a war, I'm ready!" With those thoughts in mind, it's gonna be a very long night in room 1025.

...Meanwhile, at a balcony...

"Ichika... Ichika posses the Seed Syndrome, that means..." Chifuyu stares out in the open as she wonders what will happen to her younger brother.

"Orimura-sensei, do you need a towel?"

"No, I'm okay."

"Very well, please do not take long."

"Ah." Yamada returns inside.

"Seed Syndrome... What could this mean?"

...Meanwhile, at the deepest part of the sea...

"Grooaarr! Grooaarr!" The Devil IS, along with some minions following it, at the torrent of the sea that is leading to nowhere, swims pass a lot of fishes, then some worm like machines, nanomachines in other words, came and insert themselves into it, as in to input the data they have gathered. "Grooaar, grooaar." Images of a certain young man, possessing the one thing that will lead mankind to further evolution is shown, this means... "Grooaarr!" Sensing the danger it posses, the Devil IS finally found something that could challenge its rule it seems. "Grooaarr!" _Whoosh, whoosh! _It swims through the torrent that leads to an artificial island, IS academy.

End of Chapter 3

**Note: Next chapter is when Charlotte or Charles will arrive, it will also be the chapter where the main antagonist, the Devil IS, will show itself to Ichika in the flesh, or in metal I guess, well, that's it for the next chapter, see you soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Infinite Stratos: Infinite Possibilities**

**Note: This is quite a long chapter, try not to get lost as you read it, one event is when Ichika will help Charlotte with her problem, the second is the class competition, which is sort of a replacement for the IS representative tournament and the last one will be where Ichika will battle the Devil IS, which is similar to the Devil Gundam in Gundam G, its function and nature anyway. Well, enjoy**

**Chapter 4: The Devil Meets The Infinite**

...At the deepest part of the sea...

"Grooaar, grooaarr!"

"Grooaarr."

"Grooaar."

"Ahh~" A bunch of monsters, being led by a mechanical like dragon, swim through the torrents of the sea level and as fishes and other sea creatures caught sight of them, all flee in terror for they do not wish to have anything to do with the Devil IS, not only its presence means trouble, but it seems to be destroying and corrupting everything in its environment, some reported that some of the fishes underground are becoming decomposed as if famine is now crossing the world once again just like in the medieval era, right now though, if there any dragons during the medieval era, dragons have been known to be the embodiment of a fierce anger, hatred and fear, the Devil IS may be the embodiment of fear itself as it tends to scare everything in its wake, even the sharks, the beasts of the sea, are not daring to approach it even though it has remained buried in the sea for about a decade, it's exterior armor isn't exactly being deteriorating and it seems to be a bad influence for anything that it touches, even the White Knight, the IS that is revered to be the most strongest IS in history, has been corrupted by its very presence, not even a fly will be safe within its perimeter of influence or its influential range, though it is revered to be the most threatening force on Earth right now, some people in the world revered it as a god that is yet to bring salvation to all, such as...

...In the Dunois Corporation Headquarters...

"Amaizing, the Devil IS... if only... if only..." A blonde middle-aged man is currently monitoring the Devil IS through a satalite tracking system that is known for its function of being able to monitor something that is beneath the sea, so far, even though the corporation has known of the dragon's location, they didn't bother to report to the public, it's pointless though, as the dragon has been rumored many times that it's residing underground where the sun cannot reach, meaning it's somewhere below the land nonetheless. "Amaizing, if we could get our hands on it, we'll be... we'll be... ha ha... ha ha... ha ha ha!"

"..." One girl, who is very beautiful, with her blonde hair swinging, quietly eavesdrop on the madman's delusionary exclaiming of his dream of grandeur, he is one of many to worship power, and right now, he is seing the Devil IS as a means to gain power, not knowing that even though... well, there is a saying that those who claim to control the gods are actually being controlled by the gods themselves, and he is no different, the girl however, feels very disgusted at the sight of the devil itself, it's very presence can bring the fear out of most people, luckily though, this man can only watch it from a very far distance, if it came in contact with it... there's no telling what will occur. "What should I do...? If father... no, mom... help... I need... your help... please." She prays in the heaven.

...At the deep level of the sea...

"Grooaarr!" _Blaaze, Blaaze, Stomp, stomp! _The Devil IS, commanding its armies of undead and damaged IS, stomped on the very sea floor and unleashed flames that cannot be extinguished by water alone, this is fire that is mixed with something like gasoline by the way, as the devil is an military armament like any other, the IS are no different, though the personal ones are those that is said to bond with their users, though these guys... these undead beings that has soul whatsoever are only seeing them as a way to improvise their attack, to take advantage of a tactical movement that is being given by the devil. "Grooaar, grooaar, groaarr!" _Blaaze, blaaze! _The devil breathed out another fire, this is the same way as many dragons in many folktales and fairytales, the breathing out fire thing kind of way anyway, and that it's the symbolism of fierce emotion like anger and many other negative emotions. "Grooaar, grooarr, grooaarr!" _Blaaze!_ It's giving commands right now to its armies, the exact command that it gives emphasis is... "Grooaar, grooar, grooaar!"

"...Ah~"

"Grooar."

"Grooar."

"Ahh~"

...If there is a translation to what the Devil IS is saying... it will be like... "Listen up you mindless slaves, our objective in this purging of the world is to remove the very obstacle that taints this land, and that is... the Seed! The Seed that brings sin to mankind, I shall lead you all to glory, I shall lead you all to salvation, and most of all, I will bring about the most of you to your former glory and be the glorious army that is to take down the sinful Seed of this world! Grooaarr!" The last part was nothing more than an angry roar.

"Grooar!"

"Grooaar!"

"Ahh~"

"Grooaar!" Despite being an insulting morale boost, sort the least, the armis seems to have been motivated, if they can even understand that.

"Grooarr, grooaar." The devil then turns around in the direction where it can measure, sort the least, the torrent and where exactly it leads, this one route that it's facing is... "Grooarr, grooar." As its red sensor says... IS academy. "Grooarr, grooaarr, grooaarr!" _Whoosh, whoosh! _It flies to the direction of the torrent ahead.

"Grooar."

"Grooar."

"Ahh~"

"Ahh~"

"Grooar!" The armies follow behind, most of them are machines and the zombies are no longer living so they have no problem of not letting out their breath... except, it makes them hungry... for... human flesh.

...At the Dunois Corporation...

"Charlotte, I have a mission for you."

"...Hai?"

"Speak in French, I like you better that way, ha ha."

"...Hai... yes."

"Good, that's my daughter, now then, for your mission briefing, I'm sending you to IS academy, there is a rumor about that strongest IS in the world being stored there, I want to find out if it's true, and if it is indeed true, I want you to take it by force, if you do not, then you are forever in exile from this company, I want you to prove yourself, if you dare fail me, do not dare to return, and if you would like to live, you know what you must do yes? Do this, in honor of your deceased mother."

"...Hai... yes." She couldn't barely regain her composure at the mentioned of her deceased mother who is now long gone, she's in Heaven, God willing may imposed something much greater to the daughter who was left behind. "...Okaa...-san."

"...Charlotte... The Seed... will save you."

"Huh?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"I... nothing." Though the middle-aged man didn't heard it, she heard the voice of heaven. "What was... Hm," Casting that aside, it's time to go... to the place where the Seed of Salvation will be laid bare before the one seeking it... like the fruit of Eden is the knowledge of good and evil... though of course... there will be punishment... humans were punished for corrupting the garden that is said to be the glory of the world... but... the Seed... may reveal... all truths.

...At IS academy...

"Alright, that's all for today's lesson, all of you, dismissed."

"Hai!" Class session has just ended and everyone started going about as Chifuyu and Yamada-sensei, who stayed a brief moment to inform them of the upcoming class competition that will be held soon, stepped out of the class. "Ne, Orimu, you're hungry right? You're coming with me and Kanalin and-"

"Too bad for you." Houki interrupted. "Ichika, training session, at this instance."

"Hai, Houki... madam." _Strike! _

"Don't call me that."

"Mo~ Shinonono, don't you think you're being... uh... strict."

"With the coming of the class competition, I better prepare him for what is to come so there's no time to waste."

"Ichika!" A voice outside echoed. "Ichika!" Then the door opened.

"Rin? What are you doing here?"

"Huh? What kind of question is that? It isn't against school rules to visit other class right?"

"Well no but..." Some eyes seem to think that Rin is here to acquire information about Ichika's weakness for the upcoming class competition, and by class, it means the whole class will be participating, everyone is learning and training on how to use IS here after all, and all of that will be all for naught, if they don't even test out what they learned, so everyone can think of this competition as a outlet of sort. "Well, why are you here?"

"What else? With the coming of the class competition, we'll have to make your training more double this time."

"Ugh, double..." "Double" is the right word, since he's going to have to practice under Houki's and Rin's jurisdiction, and... the jurisdiction of... something... that came from hell itself, well, to put it in a not to be rude way, it's his sister, Chifuyu, going to give him intense training every night, but recently, Chifuyu have been postponing some of that training, deeming that he's ready, she's also muttering in a cursing way about the Seed Syndrome like it's a curse or something, not that Ichika hears it whenever she does so, but she allows it to occur every here and now, there were several times that it was activated out of Ichika's will, one of which is when he saw someone getting in trouble, like someone falling on a stairway, someone dropping a vase or project and he would just go out and help them, not that Chifuyu does not acknowledges its good side effect, but to her, it's also attracting the notice of a beast that is lurking to only God knows where, and its sudden appearance is not making things safe for Ichika, her younger brother here in this academy, despite politics no longer involved, the beast is still posing danger to her and him, not that she's forbidding it but... with every usage, it may attract the beast to this place and no one can guarantee what will occur. "Anyway, when is training?"

"At evening after dinner, don't be late." Rin and Houki left, Houki is presumed to go to her training session in the dojo and Rin... will probably give some morale speech to her classmates at the other side.

"Hm, you're getting pretty busy huh Orimura-kun?"

"Ah." Ichika lies his head on his desk, feeling motionless, he feels like things are becoming more busy and busy, but at least, politics will not lay a finger on him, unless of course if it's really important, there has been many scientists, reporters and interviewers that has been trying to gain foothold in IS academy, but so far, no one succeeded, the Alaska treaty is of course must be respected or else there will be severe consequences for everyone, even IS academy, and no one dare to defy the word of the leaders of the nations and Chifuyu is somewhat of a figure in Japan so that they may obey her wishes since she is sort of like a champion figure to all IS users out there, someone who is to revered as one of the people who is the best in manuevering an IS of all time, though according to her, they're just exaggerating it, but that aside... "Well, I gotta go."

"Good luck Orimura-kun!"

"Please lead us all to victory when the time has come!"

"Hai, hai." Not wanting to drown their spirit, as his habit as a gentleman, he says that, though he doesn't know if he can uphold his own end of the... well, that aside, the Seed Syndrome seems to be keeping him out of trouble from time to time, though there are some sever circumtances that it would just activate in its own accord like fate itself is interfering in many ways, though that is supernatural, there are things that are beyond human words and perhaps something they may never comprehend, but right now, that's not what is important. "Ten times the harder in training huh... Huh, what a night this is going to be." He braces himself for the hardships that awaits.

...Later, at the field...

"Sa te, here I go! Huah!" _Whoosh, swing, swing! _With the naginata in check, Rin went at full force, and throwed it towards Ichika with the Byakushiki in his leisure, but... _Thwack! _

"Ow! Hey, go easy on me."

"If I go easy on you, you will never learn so get to it."

"Here I go Ichika, if you dare to show any weakness, I won't forgive you." With Houki wielding a practice katana, that is attached to her Practice IS, she takes a stance, then she prepares a pose that is of that of a samura.

"Ah, Houki, can you..." _Sharp! _"Huh?" Something stirred in his head, like... "Huh? That's..."

_"This is the place, I better..."_

"Huh?" Like seeing a girl with a hat on a place she has never seen before, Ichika cannot help but feel like helping her out, either way, he felt like he just watched a scenario of an anime scene wherein the heroine got lost somewhere in a huge metropolis, and as a gentleman... "I..." _Sharp, Sharp! _A seed... being sliced in half... and... a... brilliant of light scattering... "...Okay." The helmet apparatus is equipped as the Byakushiki system detected the Seed Syndrome in Ichika, "Ja, Houki, give me all you got."

"Okay, ja, here I go-! Hiya!" _Block! _"Wa!"

"Hm," Ichika grabbed the tip of the sword as it came in contact with the Byakushiki's claws. "Too slow Houki." _Thrast! Clash! _

"U-Uwaah!"

"Here I go Ichika, hiyaa!"

"Alright, back at you Rin!" _Clash, clash! _With the naginata and the Yukihira clashing, some sparks are seen in the scene, _Clash, Clash, Thrash! _

"Hiyaa!"

"Hmnrg...!" _Clash, slice! _

"Guah!"

"Ha ha, got you Rin." A sweet smile.

"Wa." The naginata is split in half, with the two parts being stabbed on the ground.

"Sorry about that, but I have to end the duel quickly as possible because..." _Tsing, boom! _Ichika turned around and fired at the nearby bushes.

"Huh?"

"Hm," Both Rin and Houki were stunned at his sudden movement. "Come out of there."

"..._static... static... _Static.. disable... cannot... compute." _Boom! Boom! _An IS was lurking there and it seems to be an unmanned drone, it was just destroyed as Ichika hit it on the core.

"Wha... What the?" _Alarm, alarm. _"Huh?" The alarm sounded.

"Everybody listen up, an intruder has invaded the island, everyone prepare for self-retalition coutning measure, the hacker has hacked into the system and all of the missile cannons will be targetted at both friend and foe, that means it includes you."

"Huh?"

"What in the...?"

"This is... an enemy attack." Everyone heard Chifuyu's voice through the intercom, the entire academy is alerted of an outsider's presence... or rather... _their _presence.

_Stomp, stomp. _"Hm? W-Wah!"

_Blaast, blast, boom! Block! _"Uwah!" Rin spotted another unmanned drone, then another, then a third one... a lot of them! Ichika just used the Barrier Void Attack on Rin ealier so he is able to use the Reiraku Byakuya to protect the two girls. "Wh-What in the..."

"Unmanned drones." _Whoosh! _Ichika charged forth with the Yukihira in hand, and it's ignited, ready for battle. _Slice, slice! Boom, boom! _Two down.

_Tsing, tsing, boom, boom, block! _"Ichika!"

"Ichika, I'll help you, Shinonono, you go back inside!"

"What are you saying? I'll help as-"

"Your IS cannot inflict damage on these guys so just go and do as I say!" _Whoosh! _Rin charged forth as well, _Clash, clash, Slice! Boom! _

"Ge, curse it. Hnrg." Houki had to resist the urge to just rush in there and aid Ichika instead of Rin, but as she can see it, her IS, which is a Practice IS, is just no match for these unmanned drones that seem to be smaller versions of the previous two that has attacked this place twice now. She left for the lobby building.

...At the faculty...

"Everyone, prepare for some venting counting measures, we'll use this chance to jam all the cores of the invading IS and gain ahold of any information they have, I repeat, everyone prepare for vent counting measures, now, everyone head for the nearby safe shelter building, now go, don't be late at just about 20 minutes!"

...At the dormitory...

"Let's go!"

"Kyaah!"

"Everybody, run!"

"Please everyone, hurry up!" Yamada-sensei had woken up all the students in the dormitory and told them to go to the safe shelter where they are instructed to lay low until the venting operation is over.

...At the cafeteria..

"Everyone run! And don't forget to cover all the supplies, don't let all the food be wasted!"

"Hyaah!"

The chefs had to make sure that all of the supplements, food in other terms if not the military, are covered and protected very tightly or else there won't be anything else that won't starve in the island if they are decomposed by the venting operation, afterwards, they are instructed to go to the safe shelter building as well.

...Back to the field...

"Hiyaa!" _Struck! Claash! Thwack! _

"System, overload." _Boom, boom! _Another unmanned drone destroyed by Ichika, using the zero system, it's tracking all sort of movements and the Seed Syndrome is making things easier for Ichika to gather the data and use them in a proper way to exploit their flaws then deal with them swiftly. _Struck! Strike! Clash! Slice, boom! boom! _

"Hm, these are all unmanned drones, where is the..." _Sharp! _"Hm? This feeling..." A cord line, of sort, is sensed through Ichika's spine, like... something... drawing...

_Slice, boom! _"Ichika, they're about to vent the entire place over, hurry up, we have to go as well!"

"I know, but... you go on ahead without me."

"Huh?" _Tsing! _"Wh-Whoa!"

"Hm," _Whoosh! _Performin a manuever, Ichika dashed to the left to see a clear sight of a unmanned drone that almost hit Rin. "Don't dare to hit my comrades." He said in a deadly tone. _Tsing, boom! _

"System, over-" _Boom, boom! _With one clear shot at its core, the IS exploded. The other provided armaments for Byakushiki can only be used once the zero system is on, and it can only be used by someone who posses the Seed Syndrome. Chifuyu herself wasn't able to access the full core stability of the IS so she doesn't know about it too well other than its good at close range combat and other CQC moves as well, that and many other more like...

"Hiya!" _Whoosh! _Ichika lifted upward, _ting, ting, ting! _"Take this!" _Tsing, tsing, tsing! _The weapon pods that were all sent flying all over the place, fire at all the unmanned drones, _boom, boom, boom! _

"_Static- Urrgh._" _Boom, boom! _

_Tsing, tsing, boom, boom! _"System, overload-" _boom! _All of them have been eradicated.

"Hm," _Whoosh! _Ichika then flies to the west.

"H-Hey, Ichika, where are you-"

"There's something I gotta take care of, hurry and get to safety!" He said that as the weapon pods all return to him. _Whoosh, whoosh! _

"H-Hey, geez, you better come back untainted by the gas later!" _Whoosh! _Rin took her leave.

_Whoosh. _"Where is this feeling...? Hm?" He then spotted a unique sight, an IS, probably a second generation type, is caught sight, it's orange in color and on the helmet that is used for the zero system, a designation name is confirmed: Raphael-Revive Custom II. "This is..."

_Tsink. _Noticing Ichika's presence, it turns to him with its armament fully operational. _Bang! _Semi-automatic assult rifle is fired towards him.

"Hm!" _Block! _Ichika used the Reiraku Byakuya to avoid the approaching shot, _whoosh!, _he then used ignition boost to gain ahold of it in a closed distance.

"Hm!" The one operating the Raphael-Revive Custom II realized that they have to go for a CQC manuever so,_ Tsck,_ they brought a knife that emerged from the Raphael-Revive Custom II's body part and they decided to use it.

"Hiya!" Swinging forth the Yukihira, _Clash!, _the two clashed weapons.

"Hm!" The one operating the Raphael-Revive Custom II then tries to grab ahold of Ichika's wrist to pin him down, they succeeded in doing so but...

"Got you," _Tsing, boom! _

"Uwa!" One armament, a beam particle, blasted the arm of the Raphael, making it back away from a distance.

"Hiya!" _Strike! _

"Uwaa!"

_Strike, strike, strike! _"Hiya!" _Strike, crack, Thruck! _Not really relenting on his attack, Ichika intended to disable some of the long ranged weaponries so that it won't have to retaliate, the reason for this is because... well, being a gentleman, Ichika knows when to incapacitate an enemy and when they can no longer defend themselves, he would stop, right now, the zero system is analyzing the armaments of the Raphael-Revive Custom II, all of the ranged weapons are incapacitated, now there's only those that are used for CQC, Rain of Saturday, the name of a specific long ranged weapon right now is not fully capacitated for as the other long ranged are damaged, it can be considered disable now, since most of the bullets are jammed after the brutal strikes that was inflected on the Raphael's body structure. Then there's the Bread Slicer, as the Zero System would name it, or perhaps that is indeed its real name, knife is the only weapon it has along with the Gray Scale, along with some of the Raphael's body parts that can enhance its battering strength to incapacitate its enemies, but at this condition, the zero system would simply give coordinates to Ichika on where exact location the enemy would go, it's giving all type of information to analyze the environment, like it's examining it's environment and all the angles that it perceives are like possible paths for an individual to walk to, right now, Ichika is seeing something like... the one operating the Raphael-Revive Custom II seems to be struggling to either accomplish this mission or just surrender to the authorities of this place, but as she has nowhere else to go... it's... hopeless."I don't think so." Seeing that angle path, Ichika swore an happy ending for this person, _Sharp, Sharp! _a seed... this time... it seems the scattering of light is much more... well, there's a lot more light being scattered, it seems with a pure and sheer intent, Ichika can activate it on his own accord, the Seed Syndrome that is, and his eyes didn't changed its colors, but they returned to normal for a short moment, then they return to being blackish again. "You, who are you?"

"Huh?" The voice of this person, is she... a girl?

"You're outmatched, and..."

"Venting counting measures, beginning."

"Eh?" The sound of the intercom signals...

_Bsst! Bssat! Bsst! _Gases are everywhere, these gases can jam the sensors of any IS that is within the vicinity, including... "H-Hey, look out!"

"Eh? G-Gyaah!" The operator of the Raphael-Revive Custom II is dragged along by Ichika to somewhere where the gas can't reach.

...At the nearby safe shelter...

"What's going on?"

"Right now, those unmanned drones out there are probably being neutralized by now."

"Ichika..."

"That Ichika, he said he'll catch up later, where is... where is he!" Rin, Houki and the rest of the residents of IS academy are all here, including the instructors.

"Is everyone here? All in number?"

"Orimura-sensei, Orimura-kun isn't here!"

"What? That.. where is he!"

"What I hea-"

"Where! I thought he was with Fann and Shinonono! Shinonono, where is he!"

"I... I don't know he..."

"Where did you last saw him!"

"I..."

"I saw him, he..."

"What?" Just as when Rin was about to spill out what he said... "Where is he! What did he..."

"Orimura-sensei, p-please calm down, Huang-san isn't..."

"...Ge,"

"Chifuyu-san."

"Call me Orimura-sensei."

"Orimura-sensei, ja, excuse me." After bowing, Yamada-sensei bowed to Rin for Chifuyu's sudden outburst, she would normally burst into this kind of attitude whenever Ichika is carelessly led to something dangerous, she has a sort of complex that tends to rise up whenever she fails something that is regarding Ichika's condition, like what happened when he was still young wherein even though she was the champion of the Mondo Grosso, her greatest failure is to protect the only family she has left and she has sworn to never make the same mistake again, not while she draw breath. Yamada-sensei follows Chifuyu to the sides. "Orimura-sensei, p-please calm down."

"Damn it, that Ichika... what the heck is he..."

...At the nearby shore...

"We should be safe here." Ichika's Seed Syndrome passed off for a while, along with him is this person... or a girl, as far as he can stretch out the tone of her voice, assuming of course if...

"_Gasp, _air... air..."

"Huh? What is it, you can't..."

"_Gasp, _whew, I thought I was going to deprive of... _Gasp, gasp._"

"..." Ichika's heart skipped a bit, this person... this girl... blonde hair... slim body... almost... almost... "..." The Goddess smile... it's... it's... too invigorative! "Ah."

"Uwa, it's too warm here, I better... Eh? W-Wah, you..." Though her face is revealed, she seems to be someone who is quite gracious, careful in other words, of her actions and... seeing that Ichika has now seen her face... "Y-You..."

"..."

"..." There is a saying wherein a girl where she met someone who is like... in the garden of Eden, Adam took an apple... then he shared with Eve... as in, the two of them were cursed but... many people assumed that such act was an act of sinning but in this world, many truths depend on everyone's point of view and this one... wherein 'God' may be the true evil... and the true God may have allowed such act... but either, there is one fated meeting and this is... one of them! But all that aside... "Um..."

"You're... a... girl?"

"..." She nods, earnestly, too earnestly.

"..."

"..."

"Uh... you..."

"So, I failed... _sigh,_ um, would you please... um..."

"Uh, I... can..."

"Target: Confirmed."

"Eh?" _Whoosh, whoosh! _Coming out of the bushes, a bunch of IS, unmanned drones, came out and their intended programming is to protect that assailant, beautiful assailant, from anyone and anyone with emphasis on it, including... "Wh-Whoa!" _Swing, swing! _Ichika had to use some reflexing moves to avoid the laser blades that they swung at him. "Hey, darn it! Hrrng!" _Crunch, crack! _One unmanned drone's face or sensor head is smashed to bits by Ichika's claw or maybe it would be better that it's Byakushiki's claw that is equipped to Ichika's arm, well either way...

"Assassinate! Assassinate! Assassinate!" It seems these guys are too conspicuous about their intent of preventing Adam, Ichika, from taking Eve, the girl, beautiful girl, from God, her conspirators to do something ill in this place like... well...

"Ah wait, it's already-" It seems even the girl is against the unmanned drones intent.

"Hiya!" _Crunch, crack! boom! _Another one destroyed. "Hng!" _Strike! _One got kicked on its sensor face and got and a long, slow way to the ground, it's incapacitated and Ichika... "Huarg!" _Crunch, crunch, crunch, Thrash! _...It's sensor head is barely recognizable, it's like in a wrestling wherein when you pinned down your opponent that you started brutalizing him, well, that and... well enough about that. "_Huff, huff, _that was..."

_Whoosh! _"Last Resort: Self-destruction initiating."

"Huh?"

"Eh?" One unmanned drone, probably the last one, went from above and is about to go on a genocidal mission... last resort! _Blaaze! _"L-Look out!" The girl, who is the assailant, in a manner of speaking, goes to save her attacker and sort of savior.

_Thrank! _"Wah!" _Boom! _The two of them fall near the shore where Ichika's hair is soaked by the sea water where the girl is soaked on... well... "Ugh... I... Are you... alright? You... Ah!"

"Hm? Wha... Hm," Staring at her chest which is soaked... "Ah... Ah! Uwa, Uwah!" The flashmark of... women's... body... a... breast... too big! "Uwa, uwa, ahh!"

"H-Hey, calm down, you..."

"You're... ecchi."

"Hey, why am I to be blamed for this!" This is outrageous, as Ichika said, though that is perhaps only in his perspective, since he didn't do anything the exposure of one's skin le... nevermind about that, a-anyway, here, let me carry you."

"Eh? W-Wah, uh no, I'm..."

"Stop moving, I can see you... guh."

"Eh? W-Waah! Ecchi!" _Stub! _

"Guah, hey, that's dangerous, your IS might-" Right now, this girl's IS is in its closed from as she disabled it a while ago.

"Ssra, target: initialized." One nanomachine, that is in a shape of a worm like bug, that is on the sea watches the two. "..." It has wicked intent as its nature is that of wickedness. "Ssra, ssrra!" It crawls towards the two... then crawling Ichika's leg...

"Hm?" He felt like something just went inside... the... "What the..."

_Tik. _Something jumped onto the girl's arm. "Eh?" She noticed it.

"Ssr."

"Ah... W-Waah! You have something... a worm!"

"Eh? W-Worm? Eh? What the?"

"Ssra" _Flash. _The worm, that is a nanomachine, merged with the closed IS of the girl then... _Flash, pin. _"Detonation sequence, activate."

"Huh?"

"Wha..." _Flash... Flash! _Raphael-Revive Custom II is activated but... "W-Waah!" With the girl as its operator, the Raphael begun to go on assault towards Ichika, it's like 'God' is saying 'thou shalt be cursed and pay for thou sin!" to Adam... Ichika that is, for corrupting Eve... the girl, who is struggling to take control but...

"W-ahh!"

"R-Raphael! What's wrong? Why are you- Guaah!"

"H-Hey, wha- Why are you attacking me all of the sudden!" Ichika avoids all the attacks, despite all the long ranged weapons being disabled by now, the knife and the shield anti deflection barrier is intact and it's enough to bring down an IS that is within peremeter.

"Seed... destroy..." The nanomachine that is injected into Raphael's core is slowly eating away the original programming and it's becoming into something that is full of genocidal intent but...

"Raphael, Raphael!" The girl struggles to reach out to the bond it shares with her, the IS, a personal IS, is said to bond with the user and so... _Pin, flash. _"Huh?"

_Flash. Boom! _"Ssra!" The Raphael-Revive Custom II suddenly went out exploded on its right leg, destroying the nanomachine in the process, thus, it's core is untainted by the corruption.

...Somewhere else, deep below...

"Grooaar, grooarr!" The Devil IS seems to have suffered a loss of one of its parts, and that is... "Grooar, grooar!"

"Ssra." It's made of nanomachines by the way, it's interior phaseshift armor is made of it, of nanomachines that is, phaseshift armor is normally used only for military bases or fortresses to defend themselves of any incoming projectiles that is either a beam or a missile, but this one, the dragon like IS, the Devil IS, is using it for the purpose of... well, in the beginning, the Devil IS was originally intended to be an environment preserver so that the damage that was caused by the war would be repair at an outstanding speed and rate using nanomachines that will help in the recovery of the environment, and as thus, it uses payshift armor to protect itself from anything that might endanger it from the hands of those who would use it for its own benefit, but unfortunately, due to the interference of an underground organization, Phantom Task, the corruption of the programming prompt the Devil IS to use it for protection from all sort of harm, even to those who would disable it for the sake of the world, so right now, the nanomachines that it uses to corrupt the environment and everything around it, even individuals who have vulnerable minds, are being used as a means to protect itself and anything that comes in contact with them will find it no easy prey to bargain as with as even a slight touch of the nanomachine will make the individual feel an intense wave that can cause psychological dismemberment, meaning they will begin to go insane in every inch of second that passes by should the nanomachine is not rid of in time. "Grooar."

"Grooaar, grooarr!" _Whoosh! _

"Grooar."

"Ah~" The dragon IS turns into high velocity followed by its armies along the torrent that is specifically heads for IS academy.

...Back to Ichika...

"_Cough, cough. _Ah, _huff, huff._" The girl, who is the operator for the Raphael-Revive Custom II, coughed waater.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"Ah, I'm... fine... Ugh." She faints.

"H-Hey, are you alright? Hey, hey, hey!" At this rate, it'll have to... "Yabe, she might not stop breathing so... ah... ugh... C... P... CPR... Ah." Looking at that soft, beautiful lips of hers... "Ah, gyah! No, no, that's not necessary! I better... better... Geh, I better take her to my room." _Whoosh! _Activating Byakushiki, Ichika took her in his arms, forgetting the bracelet like form of the Raphael, but... "Oh wait, I forgot this." ...But he remembered it anyway, it just turned into this form a while ago after the nanomachine was ejected from the Raphael's core. They took off.

...At the safe shelter...

"Is everything okay? Turn off the vents now."

"Hai."

"Ichika never showed up, that guy, what the heck is..." In the end, Ichika didn't showed up here, meaning he might be somewhere else, Rin and the others are worried, specifically...

"Um, Orimura-sensei..."

"Send out for a search group, search every corner of the academy for Orimura, in case of emergency, this should be operated immediately right?"

"H-Hai." Even without facing Yamada-sensei, she can tell that Chifuyu is distraught, very distraught at the fact that her younger brother never showed up.

"That no good for nothing, I'll make you feel what is like to regret having been borned into this world."

"That Ichika... What the heck is... I'll make sure I'll increase his training 10... no, 20!"

"Where is Orimura-kun?"

"I don't know, wasn't he supposed to... Gyeh!" The girls do not want to be near Houki as of right now due to all the uncomfortable atmosphere. The sight, or maybe just imagination, of Ichika being thrown in mid-air, then like a fresh shot in a baseball hit, he was sent flying far away.

...At room 1025...

"There, she should be okay, hm?" Just when Ichika was about to cover the girl in his bed with the blanket, due to her being thrown near the shore, she's quite soaking her underwear... her panties which is blue is being... well... "Geh, guh." He immediately covered that part before more time is spent on... well, that aside, he better prepare some tea for the girl. "Better make sure it's warm." He goes for the stove where he is boiling some water for the tea.

"Hm, hmng, hm?" The girl opened her eyes. "This is...? Ah, wh-where am I?"

"Hm? Oh, you're awake, good."

"Eh? You're..."

"You want some tea right? It'll be ready in a few seconds."

"A-Ah, a-arigatou-gozaimasu..."

"Hai, here, it's still hot so be careful."

"H-Hai, ja, if I-" _Swwing_

"G-Guah!"

"Ah sorry!"

"Hot, hot, hot!" She spilled some of it when she tried to use the spoon.

"I'm sorry, here, let me help you."

"Ah no, it's alright, I-"

"Here, let me blow it to lessen the pain."

"Ah." Beautiful face... and... close... breast... "Uh um, your... your breast..."

"Eh?" Looking down. "Gyah!" She backs away from him. "You're a ecchi."

"Huh! What am I being blamed for! I'm not at fault here!"

...After a minute of introduction...

"Charlotte Dunois huh, I see, I'm Orimura Ichika, nice to meet you, so you're from France?"

"Hai, um, have you heard of... the Dunois Corporation?"

"Uh no, I'm afraid not, why are you here though? Were you..."

Regarding the attack of the unmanned drones. "I'm... I'm an agent, I was told to enroll here in IS academy to gather info on... well... the one... using the... Byakushiki."

"Eh?"

"Ah, I'm... I'm..."

"Hm?"

"...I'm a network spy, I'm from the Dunois Industry, the only... well... in France, we're... no, that man... I'm a bastard daughter of my father, he sent me here to..."

"Huh?"

...A minute of explaining...

"So you're saying that your father... who is the head of the IS reproduction in France sent you here, to steal..."

"Hai, your IS, the Byakushiki, is a relevant data to the reproduction of fourth and second generation IS, the France industry is becoming desperate that they are not even pulling out from any reproduction of an IS that will most likely hit the many interest of people in the world but... everything is collapsing, my father... my... unwanted daughter..."

"Huh?"

"I'm an unwanted daughter, my father was getting obsessed in obtaining data with the use of force... in gathering data... for the Devil IS."

"Devil... IS?"

"Hai, it's the mysterious force that is the driving force for all the unrest that is occurring in the world right now.

...Speaking of unrest...

"Grooaar!"

"Grooaar!"

"Grooaar!" The Devil IS, along with its armies, just crossed the ocean of the Bermuda Triangle, the Devil's Triangle in other words, it's where a lot of vessels, ships and other armaments that can cross the ocean are said to have disappeared under not normal circumtances, it is also here where the Devil begun its carnage and destruction, with many vessels lost, this place was marked as hazardous due to its nature of being full of... well...

"Ahh~"

"Ahh~

"Grooarr!"

"Grooarr!" _Splash! _The Devil IS rose up from the sea with the Sun being reflected on its corrupted armor that is payshift, made of nanomachines that can cause someone and somebody insane, and the purpose for this is...

"Grooarr!"

"Grooarr!"

"Ahh~" Some of its armies that are lay buried inland have awokened due to its presence, it can dormant itself among its armies though due to all the corruption of waves that are being sent by the nanomachines, it can only do so for about a short brief period of time, this inland is where the bulk of its armies are gathering, it is also their resting place, thus, this place can be considered as a graveyard for ships and vessels alike as all the corpses that were laid buried deep beneath the ocean.. have taken residence here but not the same as living... but neither it is a dying a way of living, or something like something to die for, but rather, they're humanities have been stripped from them and they're nothing more than walking abominations now that they serve the devil.

"Ahh~"

"Ahh~"

"Grooarr!" A bunch of IS with their pilots as undead go for the undersea as the devil beckon them to. _Splash, splash! _

"Grooarr!"

"Grooaar!"

"Ahh~"

"Grooaarr! Grooaarr!" _Blaaze, blaaze! _As if a way of communication, the devil lets out fire to command the army to march through the Pacific Ocean up to... the borders of Japan where... the Seed... as it mentioned, through the undead and damaged IS undertanding anyway, was corrupting the world and needs to be purged, or at least that's how it perceived the Seed that is residing in IS academy, which it deems to be the lair of sinners, or at least... right now, it perceives itself as a new god so it perceives those who oppose it as sinners, well, that's how its twisted view is checked, it's a deranged being with no aspect of truth whatsoever. "Grooaarr, grooaar." _Stomp, stomp! _Violent tremors are sent on the cracks of the ocean floor, this can signify a charge flag or something for the army. "Grooar, grooaar!"

...Again, if there is a translation for the Devil IS communication to its armies, it would be... "Listen up, you all mindless thralls, I will lead you all to the garden where the Seed is laid bare. there, we will cleanse the sinners who protect it, all hail to the glory of Jehovah, to this cursed place, now... onward!"

"Grooaar!"

"Grooaarr!"

"Ahh~"

"Ahh~"

_Stomp! _With the army's morale boosted, sort the least, the Devil turns its attention to a direction that is across the raging sea wherein it will take about at least two days for it to arrive at that intended destination... IS academy. "Grooaar, grooaar, grooaar!" _Whoosh, whoosh! _Then it started marching along with all of the armies of that are not living and neither are they dead, but rather, they're all mindless, soulless vessels that are under its command, they intend to use the underground passages that lead to various places that can be considered shortcut to get to various military bases in the world, this is the route most soldiers would take but due to all passages in the underground are all under... well, it would be suffice to say that almost all the underground passages in the world have been overrun with undead and the Devil IS would occasionally roam the area, making it more unsafe for military platoons to march through it, most of them are marching with IS by the way, so it's safe to say that they are women.

...Back to room 1025...

"Is that alright with you?"

"Eh?"

After hearing all the background story, sort the least, of Charlotte Dunois, there's no way Ichika would feel certain or calm as... well, being a gentleman, he must be distraught to hear something that is dreadful, or at least unpleasant regarding the backstory of a girl, especially someone... beautiful as Charlotte, or Charles, as that was the alias she was going to use after she is enrolled here, which unexpectedly, she was caught already as soon as she arrived here. "Is that alright with you? That you are just going to be berated by that bastard once you get back?"

"O-Orimura..."

"If you stay here... that should be fine right? Maybe there's something I can do... Let's see..." Regarding studying, though Ichika still has some lack of knowledge for IS, during his time here, he has managed to learn a few and some during the time when the Seed Syndrome would kick in, so about that... "Article 21 of the academy says that all students are to have no obligations to any nation, state or any organization around the world, thus, any intervention or outlaw act are not to be permitted, so you'll be safe here, you're planning to enroll here right? Ja, I'll help through and through."

"Orimura... Wh... Why are you... doing all this for me?"

"W-Well... uh..." A creeping blush... "Well, it's... it's... well, e-every men must... uh... how should I... I guess I can't just let you handle this on your own since uh... you're... a... girl."

"..."

"..." Two lost souls, wandering in a garden... wondering what is "good" and what is "evil", perhaps there are such things in this world that the truth would show itself, no matter how hard one's life can be or no matter what kind of struggles or strife one endures, there will always someone out there who can pull you out of it when you can't take much more of it, like a boy who found a girl in the dark and he has taken her to the realm of light wherein she found her true purpose and the sun will rise, lighting up the sky anew, more glorious, more beautiful, more... lovely. "Uh, was I..."

"...Ah," She smiles. "Arigatou, arigatou, honto ni arigatou." A lovely smile, that can...

"..." Melt the deep portion... no, the _whole_ heart of any men, like this is a smile of a goddess that gives fortune, but... when angered...

_Alarm, alarm. _"Hm? What...?"

"Eh?"

"This is an announcement, Orimura Ichika of Class 1-1, please show yourself at the field immediately, Orimura Chifuyu has requested your presence."

"Eh? Chifuyu-nee?"

"You mean... instructor..."

"Ah, she's my... well, be right back, don't go anywhere Charlotte."

"A-Ah, okay." Ichika left the room. "Orimura... Ichika, hm, hmhm, such... a... he's incredible, hehe." Lovely thoughts... though a bit erotic. "Orimura Ichika... Orimura... Ichika..." She keeps murmuring his name while daydreaming on the provided bed.

...At the field...

_Strike! _"Ow!"

"So all this time you were goofing around while all of your classmates are worried about you huh?"

_Strike, strike! _"Ow." Ichika received a hell of a beating after arriving at the destination where he was asked to go to by Chifuyu, the others were crying in relief that he's safe while some of them are angrily expressing their worried and relief that he's safe. Such as Rin and Houki for one, or two.

"Orimu, where did you go-"

"Yeah, we were like worried sick for-" All types of questions were asked by everyone in class 1-1.

"That's enough, it's already passed 10 so all of you are expected to be at your dormitories now, Orimura, come with me for a bit."

"Eh? Uh... okay." Ichika expects that he may yet received various beatings from Chifuyu after everyone is gone.

"..."

"...Hn." Both Rin and Houki left with some regarding expression like '...don't do that again, or else' with a clunch fist as they left after giving him a scary glare to which Ichika finds unnerving.

...Soon after everyone left...

"Well, what happened?"

"Eh... What... do you..."

"Don't try to lie or bluff your way out of this, something occurred to trigger those unmanned drones right? You detected that in that zero system that is installed to Byakushiki."

"..." That pretty much blown his cover to protect someone so... "I..."

"Well?"

"..."

"..." _Tap, tap, _Tapping her foot, Chifuyu waits for an answer. "..." Seeing that Ichika is flinching his skin, he might not be able to tell even if he wanted to, so... "Well, if you can't tell..." Approaching him closer...

"Geh," Ichika prepares to have another smack, maybe a two or more, it doesn't matter, Chifuyu can do whatever she likes as she's responsible for where he is right now, so anything that she does is perfectly, and very _perfectly_ okay... for him, even though it hurts so...

"Then you don't have to tell me, just don't let it get to your head next time."

"Eh?" Ichika felt like two arms are wrapped around his back, it seems Chifuyu is hugging him. "Wha..." 'What is she doing? Why is she... Why am I dreaming something like this? No, it's...'

"Well, ja, you should get back to the dormitory, it's getting late."

"H-Hai, okay, ja, good night, um... Ch- Orimura-sensei." He then left to go back to the room where a certain someone is waiting...

"...Hm?" _Tim, tic, tic. _Raindrops. It seems it's raining. "Huh, the storm comes, hm." Right, the weather report told everyone that raindrops may occur tonight, there's a storm coming and it might approach the country just this tonight and it will continue just about... three days according to the group that is monitoring the region. "Hm, better get back.

...At room 1025...

"Uh, Charlotte, are you in there? Are you asleep? I'm coming in?" Ichika slowly opens the door, only to... "Hm? The light is off, oh here it this." _Tstch. _Turning on the light,

"Gyah!"

"Hm? Wha- Guaah!" A peeping is occurring, well, in a manner of speaking. "Ch-Chartlotte?" Blue bra... blue panties... what is there to tell?

"O-Orimura, you... Hentai!" She throws her clothes that are of the IS academy's female uniform.

"H-Hey, calm down, I..."

"D-Don't look!"

"Hey, shh, be quiet, if they hear you I won't be able to talk our way out of it."

"O-Oh, r-right, then... let me..."

"Ichika, are you there?"

"...!" The voice of Houki.

"Ichika, are you in there?"

"R-Rin!" Then there's the voice of Rin, both are approaching.

"Huh? Luang? What are you doing here?"

"The same goes for you, I'm gonna see Ichika, step aside Shinonono."

"Hey, I'm-"

'Damn it, damn it, damn it! At this rate, they might assumed I took a girl into my room and get all agitated, gotta do something.' "C-Charlotte, you better hide.

"H-Hai, ja, I can-"

"Hey, why the cupboard! The bed! The bed, get under cover!"

"H-Hai, okay."

"Anyway, step out of the way, I'm going to- Ichika!" _Keplunk! _"Ichika, wha-"

"Hey, how great to see you guys here." Ichika, smiling, sitting on the bed's edge, greeted them.

"Ichika, why are you..." Houki is the first to notice his strange behavior.

"Oh look, it's raining outside." Right, it's the beginning of the calm before the storm... and it will be the class competition tomorrow.

"Hm? Hm, Ichika is right, it is raining... wait, why am I referring to him by first name? We just... uu..." Charlotte blushes while being covers in the blanket that Ichika is trying to make natural like it's just lying there with the pillow below it.

"Hm? Hey, you're right." Rin walks into the room and check through the balcony. "Er, it's too cold." She immediately closed it afterwards due to the cold, harsh wind.

"I hope this doesn't start too long, the class competition is tomorrow."

"Yeah huh." Houki and Rin just sort of reminded Ichika of that.

"Oh that's right, it's tomorrow huh." 'I better not embarrass everyone once I attend there, uu, class competition, I'm not in the mood for this.'

"Ichika? He's troubled, I wonder if I can..." Intending to comfort the troubled looking Ichika, Charlotte tried to extended a arm but...

"You know Ichika,"

"Geeh!" She immediately decided not to extend it out as Rin sat beside him on the bed.

"H-Hey Rin, you can't..." Noticing the situation, Ichika became concerned for Charlotte who is on the bed and him trying to hide her might get exposed.

"Huh? What's with you? Can't I not sit here? Anyway, I'm going to wish you good luck once you face me tomorrow, so good luck, you're going to need it, but luck won't save you from me tomorrow!"

'Right, as expected of Rin, her attitude is that of a confident... no, maybe boastful, no it's... well, whatever, tomorrow, she'll be with class 2 so we'll be enemies... ugh, I don't know what to make of this...'

"Right, so that being said, you best be prepared for the worst, I won't take it easy on you." Houki stood up and pointed her wooden sword.

"Hmph, yeah, same as here, you won't be expecting me to go easy on you."

"Yeah."

"Hm," A sparking glare.

"Huh? Did I see a spark or something? Must be my imagination."

"..." Amidst this conversation, or competition as Charlotte would see it, it would seem the two are competing for... Ichika. "Mu, Ichika, are they...?" She concluded it might be exactly 'that'. 'I-Ichika, he's..."

"Anyway Ichika, she's the enemy tomorrow, so you best kick her out of this room."

"Huh? Since when I was not allowed here?"

'Well technically, only I am allowed to this room so...' Ichika thought that as they seem to be once again sharing a sparking glare.

"Uu, it is like that..."

"Oh well, it can't be helped." Charlotte confirmed what she think might just tha and that's it.

"Ichika... is sure is popular, I wonder... will he..."

"Anyway, Ichika, you best be prepared for tomorrow, we're not gonna show class 2 any remorse until they either surrender or until they lie on their own parts of IS."

"Huh, says you, you didn't even have a personal IS."

"Hmph, I don't need one, because..." Like she has a grudge against her older sister, Tabane, she still has some disdain about the use of IS, since many have abused their power and the world has been plunged into a neverending conflict for power, desire and greed, not that she still resent Tabane with the same level of degree, she knows too well that no matter what kind of person one can become, or no matter how much they don't see each other eye to eye or no matter one can hate them, they are still their family and if there's a hope for a redemption, with the seed... that gives redemption, that is to be the case. "Well anyway, to guard Ichika against your weakness flawing doing, I'll be staying here."

"Huh?" "Eh?" "Eh?" Ichika, Rin and Charlotte, who is still hidden, asked that.

"Wh-What the heck... in that case, I'll be staying here too!" _Zap! _A lightning bolt struck as Rin said that, the storm seems to be coming and both are staying here tonight.

"Uh..."

"Uh..." Both Ichika and Charlotte are speechless on what to do.

...Later...

"..." Ichika, unbeknownst to the two girls, is sleeping with Charlotte on the same bed.

"..."

"That Ichika, it's okay to... we are childhood friends after all and... Gu, nevermind."

"That Ichika, he has slept with us before back at my mom's place, why is he... Tch, well nevermind, tomorrow, I'll show him no mercy."

The two girls thought of what could be the reason why they were not permitted to sleep with their childhood friend on the same bed, this is their second time in this room now, it would be sneaking since it is not allowed, but all they have to remind themselves with is that they must not be caught by the instructor that is said to be from hell, Chifuyu Orimura. But all the while... "Ne, Ichika, wha..."

"Shh, they might hear you, I don't know if there's something else we can do at the moment, so just stay with here for tonight."

"Oh, okay."

"Hm? Are you cold? Here, come closer..."

"E-Eh!"

"Wh-What?"

"Uh no, it's..."

_Zap! _"Hm, guah!"

"Wah!" The thunderbolt made Charlotte shriek and she unwillingly made it to Ichika's arms. "Eh? W-Wah."

"Ora, here, if you're cold, I'll cover you."

"Th-That's..." This is quite... a warm atmospherea for a girl who seems to have a found a seed that will reveal all truth. "Ah... Hm, hm." She smiles warm and lovely. "Ichika... you're... so... warm."

And like that, everything went smoothly... for now anyway.

...Meanwhile, at the open sea...

_Splash! _"Grooaar!" The dragon like IS, the Devil IS, emerged out of the sea level below followed by some jumping IS that are emerging then submerging back to the sea bottom, this IS are used for underground purpose, they are used for underwater mission, it's safe to say that they are not requiring any pilots but that's not what is should be bother here...

"Ahh~" Some of the ones that are requiring pilots are being piloted by the zombies who have no problem of drowning themselves to death, they have no problem of robbing out their oxygens in their bodies afterall, given that they're already dead and that they don't feel any pain given the white blood cells within them have ceased functioning and... well, enough about that, all of them are jumping and submerging back to the sea as they follow the Devil IS that is flying overhead on the sea floor.

"Grooaar!"

"Grooar."

"Grooar."

"Ah~"

"Grooaar, grooar." Turning to its armies, in this deadly storm that is abrewing in the sea, they're marching quite in a pack and that they don't seem to be getting agitated by the huge waves that are going their way, amidst this advancing army, someone watches them through a means of technology, and that is...

...At the Dunois Corporation headquarters...

"Ha ha, the Devil IS... my proud project, as soon as I get to study and worship you, I'll be granted unlimited potential and profit, Jehovah, prepare... I will... I will give you all the power you want, ha ha, ha ha, ha ha ha!"

"Geh, uh..."

"Our boss is becoming a lunatic."

"Hm," The staff members around are becoming afraid of their leader's behavior, they are thinking of defecting from the corporation, this is too much for them, as far as they can research it, coming in contact with the Devil IS is pretty much like asking to be corrupted by its influence in which in just a few distance, or maybe even at the sight of it, radioactive waves of motion can afflict the sanity of one's individual, the nanomachines that is protecting it is pretty much preventing anything from touching it, let alone damaging it, thus, this IS is like a godlike machine in which it intends to cleanse out those it consider as "sinners", meaning those who oppose it, and bring about "salvation", meaning when all humans are gone is when peace can finally reign as it sees humans as the cause of all negativities around the planet, though that is just one way of putting... no, it's not even truth, it is for this reason that it sees the Seed as something of a fruit that is the cause of all evil, or at least that's how it's deranged point of view works, so seeing all this, the scientists of the Dunois corporation are becoming very tired of studying the IS since they know it will only bring death and destruction as long as it's remaining in the planet.

"What should we do? If we try to leave, he'll have us killed."

"Let's run away, we're done adjusting Raphael-Revive Custom II for Dunois-san and..."

"All of you,"

"Ge!" All of them are agitated as the boss of theirs called out.

"We're going to capture the Devil IS, prepare all available armaments."

"B-But sir, it's... it's outer wall is..."

"I don't care, I want that thing in our hands, Charlotte should be already within the grounds of that children's academy and everything should run as we proceed, ha ha!"

"..." Everyone is in awe of what to do, they don't want anything to do with this crazy, diabolical scheme of the head of the Dunois corporation.

...Meanwhile, in a secret underground lab...

"Hm, this is getting worse, maybe I should contact Chi-chan, hm, but... if the theory about the Seed Syndrome is correct... Hm, fu fu, this is quite getting interesting," The sound of keyboard being pushed is echoing all over this room, there isn't much light and there doesn't seem to be any other activities other than monitoring and observing going on here, the Devil IS is being monitored to some of the small screens on the computers and the data that are gathered are pretty much the same so there's nothing more to go there, the info can only aid in battle, not on the conflict itself, and not only that, the IS is somewhat that can be consider somewhat a unique machine, it is not following instructions that are similar to a IS programming, its A.I in other words, but rather, this one has a personality, a diabolical one, it does not heed to reason and its only intent is to rid the world of humans and it seems to have no further revelation other than it's similar to a deranged man who is going on about a genocidal approach to the truth, in which it doesn't even seem to comprehend the lives of others. "Hm, maybe Ikkun can fix all this... well, I can't imagine the damage it will cause so... I guess everyone is in your hands now Ikkun, good luck, hmhm, Houki-chan, hm... I think she'll be fine, he he."

...The next day, at class 1-1...

"Everyone, please welcome the new transfer student, Charles Dunois, from France."

"Wow!"

"Kyaah!"

"Um, hi, hello everyone." Charlotte, or Charles, presents herself in front, she's under the disguise of a male student who can pilot an IS, similar to Ichika.

"Hm, this is where Charlotte will start huh, I guess I better play along until things would cool down."

"Oh, ha ha."

"...?" Everyone turned to Ichika as Charlotte, Charles rather, waved at him and he waved back. "...?" Further confusing them then... "Guu...!" Weird things come to their mind, like two guys going on about sexual intercourse... but that's beside the point, their imaginations are like beyond eternity so casting all that aside.

"Well then Dunois-kun, please take the empty seat over there."

"Hai." She does so... or it "he"?

"..."

"...? Ichika?" Ichike eyed Charles, temporary, which made Houki curious so she turned to the new student. "What... What sort of relationship does this guy have with this person?"

"Well then everyone, today I will inform you that the class competition will start today, since the sun is still up, we can all prepare now."

"Hooray!"

"Wow, we're going to fight."

"Yeah, all of us are."

"Well class 2 has a representative so we best be ready."

"Yeah!"

"_Sigh, _everyone is excited about this, hm, Charlotte has a personal IS and it's currently being stored at the storage so... that means we have two personal IS in our disposal but as for class 2, they have Rin... she has a personal IS and she's no pushover, _sigh, _this is gonna be a tough one."

"All of you are to participate with great result, fail this one and you will have examination by 50 laps around the island is that clear?"

"Hai." Everyone is in downspirit as Chifuyu told that, 50 laps huh... either that or beat class 2, there is simply... one choice... victory... if not... it's straight to the pen where you will be running until there's no more oxygen in you lungs, that and many other more... there's simply no choice, Ichika has to lead everyone, well, he'll most likely listen to the advices of those who have experience and then he may as well just lead everyone to battle, Charlotte has a personal IS of her own... though right now, not all of its armament are in shape to fight, considering what happened last night, but that's not the problem... if Charlotte... or Charles will be participating, that means... above her... boobs, sort to speak... Ichika ponder on what to do with those but... he regretted it as...

"..." A slight blood is rolling down...

"Hm? Orimu? You're bleeding."

"Eh? W-Waah, ha, ha ha, what a strange thing, ha ha." Nohohon-san noticed so he had to wipe it out immediately.

"...Hm." Houki noticed that Ichika's behavior is getting more and more strange by the minute. "Did something happened to this guy? Last night, we..."

...Meanwhile, at the student council room...

"Oh, it's that time of the year again huh?"

"Hai, it's the class competition, class 1 and class 2 will battle, your observation?"

"Hm, well..." The student council aims to observe the battle of those two classes, the president, who is a girl, turns to the view outside where the field can be seen, "I heard there's a guy here, Orimura Ichika was it? Yes, that's what I heard his name was, hm, hmhm," She's chuckling... or grinning evily... well... "I'm interested on how he will fare into this, this onee-san will watch with great interest."

"Hm, hai. Ja, if you will excuse me."

"Hm, hmhm."

...At the hallway...

"Sa, Charlotte, are you ready? This is my first time so... any advice you can give will be useful."

"Hm, I'll provide you one, though... I don't know if I'll be able to help during the battle, Raphael isn't completely repaired yet."

"Uh," Remembering what transpired last night, Ichika feels a little guilty. "I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's not your fault, I'm the one who intruded on the island so I'm partially to blame, well, let us see if I'll be able to fare well out there."

"Ichika!"

"Hm? Oh, Rin, what is it?"

"Hehe, I'm wishing you good luck, you're gonna need it, it's been some time since Shenlong wasn't use for this kind of battle, so, I'll show you no mercy, even if you beg." This is a declaration of war or something familiar to a group of tourists or troopers or whatever going to engage in a conflict that serves to prove their worth, strength and pride, this is the army, this is... well, a friendly competition of course, though Rin is making it sounds personal.

"Hai, hai, well, we'll try our best out there too, come on Charl, let's go."

"Hm, let's go." The two of them head for the locker.

"Hmhm, Ichika, if I win... you have to remember your promise to me, that is... hehe, I'll definitely win!" With glimmer on her eyes, she swore not to be defeated.

...At the lockers...

"Hm, Charlotte will be fighting, that means..." Imagining what kind of outfit will Charlotte wear in the field, Ichika thought of something similar to the girls in class, but...

"Ichika, are you there? Please... just... don't look this way..."

"Huh? Charlotte, wha- Guah!"

"Gyaah!"

"C-Charlotte!" This is naked desire, sort to speak.

"I-Ichika, I told you to... Hentai!"

"H-Hey, don't shout! I'll be labelled as a sick pervert if they found out."

"But... you're... ecchi."

"Hey! Why am I being blamed for this!"

...Later, at the field...

Everyone is lined up, Chifuyu, in her jogging suit, along with Yamada-sensei, stand in front of the ones participating in this class competition, the whole class of class 1-1 are here, ready for battle, all of them have their own Practice IS and Ichika and Charles having their own personal IS, Houki will be one of the source of strength for the class as she is excelled in using kendo swords and she knows just how to swing one at the right position, there are also those who are from the kendo club who she is aligned with these past months here in the academy, they have also come to revere Houki as their greatest member so all that is left is... "Alright, listen up, this will be the battle you all been waiting for, I assume all of you do not wish the 50 laps that have been prepared for you right? In case you are, you can back down now, anyone willing to back down, sit from there." Chifuyu points at the bench for those who are willing to volunteer. ...No one did. "Hm, alright, if it's war you want, ja, you shall have it."

"Yeah!"

"This is it."

"Ah, I've been waiting for this."

"Woo, this is getting exciting."

"_Sigh, _everyone is excited about this."

"Ha ha, yeah huh?" Ichika is the only who is not excited about this, not that he is frightened by what will happen but that he hasn't done this kind of activity before, he expects that this is just some friendly group competition but apparently, this is like a group of platoons preparing to go to battle, or war as Chifuyu said, this is not a joke... it's real, for those who are weak, they will likely perish, and the feeble minded will likely suffer humiliation and so...

"Alright, class 2 will be a formidable foe, all of you, I suggest you all think your strategy of plan of attack, I'll leave that one to you, Orimura, you will be leading everyone, I'm wishing good luck, ja, get to it."

"Good luck, everyone."

"Hai!" With a good luck charm from both instructors, everyone is now ready for what is probably like something they have been eager to do in their lives.

"Alright, listen up, everyone, gather here." Houki is holding a strategy meeting, all of class 1 gather.

"Hm," Ichika took a glance of the opposing class, it seems Rin is preparing her own class for battle, this is really not a joke, so he better not play it safe, but he better give it all he got. "They're taking this seriously huh, alright, ja, I better do my best too."

"This is getting too nervous huh Ichika?"

"Ah, ah, I guess so." 'Charl... Are you... Well, she has been an IS pilot longer than me, so I guess she has more experience in this than me, _sigh, _oh well, I guess I'll just do my thing and everyone else will have to tell me what to do, ugh, this kinda feels like I'm a dog doing the master's bidding.'

'Ichika will be fighting with me on this, so... I guess... hmhm, I won't have to worry." Charles's thoughts are more romantic than that of Ichika's. Well, as the strategy meeting proceed on.

"Sa, I'll leave some of you in the flank, some of you will also use a long range distant so that we may expect some stragglers as they kneel before us, all that is left is..." Everone turns to Ichika as Houki just finished adjusting the positions of some of the girls in class.

"Uh..." Ichika suddenly felt a suspense feeling of responsibility of leading a group of women, who are like amazons, glaring at him as if asking him for... well, they make roast out of him, he may get stabbed by a giant spoons, or pitchforks that are used for farming, and any other kinds of equipment that might be used for stabbing but...

"Hooray! Orimura-kun!"

"You'll lead us to victory right?"

"With Orimura-kun on our side, we'll definitely win!"

"Yeah, Orimura! Orimura!" Everyone seems to be rallying in his cause.

"Uh..." Now he even feels like a lot of burdens have been entrusted on his shoulders.

"Ha ha, you sure are popular huh Ichika?" There is a slight grim in Charles's voice. 'Uwa, I didn't know Ichika was this popular, he's...'

'Ichika, you better fulfill the expectation of others, otherwise I'll...' Houki is preparing something like a treatment, depending on the outcome of this battle, if they win, they will have to celebrate it all or... they will have to run 50 laps around the island which may take at about a whole day for them to be finished, they can take a break then continue again to fulfill the laps they are required but... the treatment that Houki is offerring... should they lose... she will have to... "I will have to also loose my reputation... even though I win at the national tournament, if I lose here... all of that... will be for nothing... so... I'm not... fit to be... with... Ichika."

"Yabe, everyone is expecting much of me, if I screw up, I'll be embarrassed for life. Ah, where did my normal life go? I miss you." Ichika grimaces at the possible outcomes of this battle, either victory or everyone will down in their spirits for about... well, weeks perhaps, or even months, either way, losing is not an option here, unless of course, well, better not think of that, better think positive, or else.

"Wow, everyone seems to be getting along well."

"Ah, those idiots seem not intent of taking that 50 laps mark that I intended for them to be treated with should they lose." Yamada-sensei and Chifuyu are at the side, watching the entire field.

"Ha ha, they are kids afterall."

"Indeed, well, let's see how they fare, and that idiot." The attention is turned to Ichika. 'I wonder, will the Seed Syndrome be at work here? Hm, well, I'll see I guess.'

"And now, contestants, please gather at the middle, the opening ceremony is about to start, the president has something to say."

Everyone gather at the middle in a line up position in which a vertical line is formed for each class, Ichika and Charles are among the group of girls of class 1, Rin stands out among the rest of class 2 due to her attire being pink while the rest have the same attire. The president of the student council then makes her way over the platform where there is a podium standing. "Hai, arigatou-gozaimasu, this is Sasashiki Tatenashi-onee-san speaking, hmhm, I can tell a lot of you are eager to get started, hehe, alright, to start things up, if you win this fight, you will be awarded with a medal that marks you as the greater class in the school, if you lose, you will also be given a mark as a laughing stock among all the classes." Everyone groans at that, everone seems to think that the medal is like a mockery for those who lost and those who win would endlessly laugh at them at their faces, so... Everyoen is fired up, except for Ichika and Charles, who are the only males... no, that's not the reason, one of that would have to be is that Ichika has no problem of being laughed at at the face and the medal means nothing more than a symbol of defeat while Charles...

"This is going to be the exact time where I make decision, I can go back to the corporation if I want to but..."

"If anything would to happen to you, I'll protect you, I promise."

"Ichika..." Remembering Ichika's words last night, she made her decision in a decisive way.

"Yosh, I'll... triump over this!" Now she's fired along with the rest, now Ichika is the only one who isn't.

"Hm?" The student council president then notices Ichika. "Oh, hehe. Oh, before I forget, once you start the fight, there will no substitute, so for those who are willing to back down, you can always honor the loser badge and wear it for about a year so anyone willing not to fight, please step to the sides."

"Uh," Ichika felt like he shouldn't burden himself with this further but... due to a lot of expectations, one of his habit and code, sort the least, is to ensure that a girl's smile wouldn't fade and... there are a lot of girls here who will be filling this whole field with tears should they lose... so... losing is just not an option, so...

"Oh and as for Orimura Ichika, good luck, we'll be watching from the sides, this onee-san will watch with great interest, he he."

"Eh?"

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

"Huh?" Everone has a huge quetion mark on their faces as the president just leave after that message.

"Wh-What was...?"

"Hm," While Chifuyu could care less, everyone else turn their stares at Ichika, even Yamada-sensei seem to be stunned after hearing that, the president seems to be... valor, sort to speak, and quite... flirty. This might... well...

"Ichika, what are you..."

"Ichika, what are you... the president..."

"That Ichika, what are you... what have you been up to?"

Everyone has questions in their minds, even Charles, Houki and Rin have questions though there's a bit of... malice lingering there. "Well, let us begin, everyone, line up, stand from a distant corner, everyone will use their own strategy in this so that everyone will be able to cooperate, use whichever method you use, just don't forget to not injure your opponent, this isn't a massacre, this is a fairly competition to test your pride, your honor and more importantly, this is your way to test whether you're ready to pilot an IS outside the real world very soon, now then, line up and... Go!" The sound of something like a bell ring, which is more of like a tone of a compture system ringing.

"Yosh, this is it, Ichika, you better be prepared, even if you beg for mercy, I won't relent, I will... show you... what I mean when a girl is in love!"

"Yosh, Ichika, this is a test... for me, even if it means going through a hundred obstacles in my way... I will... show you... my prowess!" Flames of determination are igniting behind two girls, Houki and Rin.

"Yosh, this is it, I better accompany Ichika, he's new at this and he's not experienced in this like we are."

"Yosh, ja, everyone, charge!"

"Hiyaa!"

"Waah!" Both girls in both sides at the front row started marching towards each other while some of them remain at their sides, preparing for their own turn to be signalled, meaning they are waiting for...

"Yosh, long ranged distance squad, fire!"

"Yosha!" At Rin's signal, _Blast, blast! _The ones near the flank fire their cannons towards the girls who are also at the flank side of class 1-1.

"Now, defensive manuever!"

"Hai!" _Block, block! Swing, swing! _At Houki's signal, those who are experienced with the kendo swords unleashed some barrier by projecting it through a swing of their swords, the force they exert will determine how long barrier will last. So far, none of the cannons have reached the flank side of both classes.

"Hiya!"

"Hua!" _Clash, clash! _Those who are in front have clashed swords with the ones who are on the front of both sides, it's a fierce battle where one's mettle is settled. _Clash, clash! _

"Guah!

"Urgh!" Some of the girls fell down from the impact, they're not injured by they're still hurt.

"Now, fire!" _Bang, Bang! _Two more of those in the flank fire at the front.

"Heh, that's not going to work." _Blast, Tsing, tsing! Boom, boom! _Rin used the projectile beams on Shenlong and dismissed the attacks.

"Whoa, sugoii, Rin is really good at this."

"Ichika, look out!"

"Hm? Wh-Whoa!" _Boom! _One attack almost hit Ichika, it seems the side of Rin are still firing. "Wa, that was close."

"Ichika, you better stay put, everyone is counting on you."

"But, I need something to do as well, what about you Charles?"

"Well, hm," Bringing out the Bread Slicer, "This should halt something in their advance." _Whoosh! _

"O-Oi, Charles!"

_Whoosh! _Charles charged forth, the armaments that are long ranged will be useless in this, so the closed ranged combat armaments will have to do, but... in second generation IS, Raphael-Revive Custom II is known for one of the best second generation IS ever! "Hiyaa!" _Clash, clash! _

"Uwa!" Two down.

"Hm," _Clash, ssrk, ssrk, Claash! _

"Uwaa!" Two, three, four... one more and the front lines of the class 2 are all decimated.

"Wa, I forgot about that boy's personal IS, yosh, if it's a fight, let's go, hiya!" Rin charges forward to support those in the front. _Clash! _"Hnrgh, you're good."

"Same for you," _Clash! _Both broke away from each other.

"But, you're not the one I'm after, here I go, Ichika!" _Whoosh! _

"Wa!" She slipped pass Charles and head straight for the trump card of class 1, Ichika. "Darn it, Ichika!"

"Hm?"

"Hiyaa!"

"Whoa!" _Clash! _Barely in time, Ichika managed to ignite Yukihira to avoid the naginata of the Shenlong on the outer shell armor of Byakushiki. "Gurh, R-Rin."

"Hehe, I told you I'll show you no mercy right? Well, here I go." _Clash! Clash! Whoosh, Blast, blast! _

_Boom! _"Wah!" Ichika fell down on his hip from the impact.

"Ichika! You're pathetic, stand up and fight like a man! Geh," _Clash! _While Houki is fighting alongside her fellow kendo members, she encourages, in a mocking way, Ichika to rise up.

"Tch, okay, if that's how you want it, let's go, Rin!"

"Ah, come at me!"

"Hiya!" With the claw of Byakushiki intact, _Clash! _they both clashed with their respective CQC weapons, there is a shimmering spark on between them. _Claash! Clash! _They broke of. "Hiya!" _Clash! _Ichika came again, this time Rin only used the tip of the naginata to defend herself, then... _Tsick! _"Wha-"

"Ha ha, got you, now fried!" _Blast, blast! _

"We-!" _Block, block! _Ichika flipped backward to land on his feet, with of course, Byakushiki's part on it, he's able to activate Reiraku Byakuya to avoid the laser beams of Shenlong. "Whew, that was... mesmerizing. No bad, Rin."

"Hm, well I'm a representative candidate after all, but you're not half bad but... Hiyaa! It's time to finish this!"

"Hm!" Ichika braces himself for an impact, _Block! Clash, claash! _from the Shenlong's unrelenting assault.

"Grr."

"Hnrr," Just then... _Shake. _"Huh?"

"Hm?"

"What the?" _Shake, shake. _

"Huh?"

"Hm?" _Shake, shake. _The ground is shaking, stopping all participants from doing whatever they are doing.

"What the?"

"What is the..."

"Huh? Is everyone...?" Houki and the kendo members all stand their ground, not all have been incapacitated just now but there are only a few numbers left.

"Uh, Orimura-sensei."

"Hm, this is..." 'This is..." _Shake, shake._

"Now what?"

"Huh?" Looking below, _grooaar, _something echoed. "Wha...?" It sounds like... a dragon, Ichika could hear it in a deep sense, but... "This is..." _Grooaar, _it's coming... near... nearer... closer... _shake, shake. _Just then, cracks are forming below Ichika's feet, this is... something... emanating... something... coming out... like... "Wa-" Like a magma that is about to be burst out of a volcano... "R-Rin, look out!"

"Huh? W-Wah!" _Blast! Boom! Boom! _A beam particle that is about the size of... well, a large section of an area is decimated as the beam particle rose up from below.

"Wa!"

"Ah!"

"What in the...?" Houki and the rest stand their ground, in awe of what happened.

"What just... Ichika, wha...?"

"I don't know." Ichika tuckled Rin so that they may avoid contact with the...

_Stomp, stomp. _Sounds of footsteps... "Ah." Everyone waited patiently for what will transpire next...

"That's..." _Sharp! _"Hm?" _I have come for you, Seed, you will taint this land no further, you... will... die! _"Huh? You..." _Blaast! Boom, Boom! _

"Wah!"

"Ah, everyone, look out!" Charles and the other cleared out from the pillar of beam that rose up and...

"Grooaar!"

"Huh?" The sound of a roar,

_Whoosh, whoosh! _"Grooaar!" A dragon like metal being rose up.

"Ah!"

"Wah!"

"Ah!"

"That's!"

_Stomp! _"Grooar." The dragon, an IS, rose up from the hole where the particle beam rose up and now... "Grooar, grooar." _Blaaze, blaaze. _Sending out flames to all around it, "Grooar, grooar." _Stomp, stomp! _

"O-Orimura-sensei!"

"That's..."

"Grooaar!" Chifuyu seems to recognize the beast. "The... devil..."

"What?"

"The devil... IS..."

She seems frightened of the sight of it, but... "Ahh!"

"Run!"

"Grooaar, grooaar!" _Blaaze! _

"Ahh!"

"Gyaah!" Some of the girls in IS have been burned, well, not them, but their IS.

"Grooaar, grooar." _Blaaze! Stomp! Blaaze! _

"Hey, everyone, step away from it!"

"What is that?" Both Rin and Ichika regained their composure.

"Groaar." _Stomp, stomp, blaaze, stomp! blaaze! _At the stomping of the dragon, it seems to be signalling someone... or somebody...

"What is..."

"Gyaah!"

"Hm?" Both Yamada-sensei and Chifuyu turn to the sides where everyone can watch, there they see...

"Gyaah! Monsters!"

"Grooaar!"

"Grooaar!"

"Ah~"

"Kyaah!"

"Run!" Zombies, damaged IS, they're everywhere, they're invading!

"O-Orimura-sensei! This is bad, we need to..."

"Hm," _Flash! _"Hiya!" _Slice, slice! _

"Grooaar!"

"Grooaar!" _Slice! _Chifuyu summoned a katana that is the size of an IS and begun slicing up those who attack the innocents.

"You monsters, you will pay! Hiya!" _Slice! _

"Groar!"

"Orimura-sensei, I'll... I'll... let me help!" _Flash! _Yamada-sensei activated her IS that is in its closed form until now, _whoosh! Bang, bang, boom, boom! _

"Grooar!"

"Grooar!"

"Ah~"

_Stomp! _Yamada landed on the crowd side, "You monsters, you won't harm the students!" _Bang! _

"Ah~" _Boom, boom! _

"Ah~" _Boom! _A bunch of zombies are down, but...

"Ah~" One managed to sneak up behind her.

"Eh? W-Wah!"

"Ah~"

"Kyah! Someone help-"

_Slice! _"Ah~" The zombie is sliced in half.

"Yamada, be careful."

"O-Orimura-sensei, arigatou."

"Ah, but..."

"Kyaah!"

"Guah!" With everyone exerting their effort on the competition earlier, everyone is on the run from the damaged IS that are rampaging in the area.

"Grooar."

"Grooar." _Tsing, tsing, boom, boom! _

"Guah!"

"Everyone run! Nohohon-san, hurry up!"

"H-Hai!"

"Grooar!" _Tsing! _One IS fired at the usual trio.

"Ah, Nohohon-san, look out!"

"Groar!"

"Uwa!"

"Tch," _Block, tsskiing! boom! _Ichika managed to step in and deflect the beam with the Yukihira.

"Orimu!"

"Orimura-kun!"

"You, you will pay, hiya!" _Slice! _

"Groar!" _boom! _

"Grooar!"

"Hiya!" _Slice, slice! _

"Groar!" _Boom! _He managed to fend off some of the attacking IS with some undead piloting them.

"Ha, ha, now then..." _Stomp, stomp. _"Hm?" Turning to that loud footstep... very loud footstep.

"Grooar, grooaar!" _Blaaze! _The demon IS approached him as he is its intended target.

"Ge,"

"Orimu!" "Orimura-kun!"

_Clash! _"Huh?"

"Grooar!" _Ablaaze! _

"Whoa!"

"Ichika!" _Clash! _Houki, who is busy fending off some of the IS that are being used by the undead, caught a glimpse of Ichika being overpowered by the devil so she rushed in, _Slice, slice! _while slicing off everything in her path, "Ichika!"

"Grooar!" _Blaaze! _

"Guh, this is... too... hot." Using the Reiraku Byakuya, Ichika fended of the flames of the devil that is coming from its mouth, it has some gasoline in it so it's not easy to put out, and as he described it, it's hot, not as hot as the sun, but this one can burn the flesh in a second as far as he can tell.

"Grooar!" _Block! _"Grr," Turning to the part where it was hit, it sees Houki, she's unleashing some unrelenting force on the left lower leg of the devil.

"Hiya!" _Clash! _

"Houki!"

"Shinonono-san!"

"Grooar!" Turning its gaze to Houki, the devil decided to ignore Ichika right now since... well, that is a bad mistake as... "Grooar!" _Bit. _

"G-Guah!" Houki is bitten on the torso, though the IS she is equipped with is protecting her from the teeth, mechanical teeth, of the devil.

"Grooar!"

"Houki!" "Shinonono!"

"Shinonono-san! Gr, hiya!" _Whoosh! _Rushing forth towards its mouth, Charles prepares the Bread Slicer, "Hiya!" _Slice, sliice! _Then managed to slice off some of the metal of the devil up to its long neck.

"Grooar,"

"Huah!" Spitting out Houki, it turns to Charles.

"Grooar, grooar."

"Hm," Charles prepares herself for a combat that will most likely not go out in her favor.

"Grooar, grooar!" _Stomp, blaaze! _

"Hnr!"

"Charles!"

"Charles-kun!"

"Tch, bastard, hiya!" Activating Yukihira, Ichika charged forth towards the devil's face. _Slash, slash, _"Hiya!" _Clash! _He managed to hit a direct to it but...

"Grr," The devil is undamaged, that is because...

"Ssra,"

"Ssra."

"Huh?" Something is stirring at its neck.

"Ssra, ssraa!" _Whip, whip! _

"W-What the-! Guah!" Worm like machines came about and spread around Ichika, making Byakushiki sort of contaminated at the moment. The system is not working well and most of the primary systems are shutting down. "Ahh! Argh! Arrgh!" The worms are also eating some of the metal of Byakushiki, making it look like it's about to deteriorate. "Urwa!"

"Grooaar, grooaar!" _Stomp! _

"Gwah!"

"Grooaar!" _Stomp, crash, craash. _

"Urrgh, arrgh! Arrgh! Argh!" Ichika is being stomped on the ground by the devil.

_Slice! _"Hm?" Chifuyu who has been fighting off some of the zombies and damaged IS around noticed her brother's condition.

"Grooaar!" _Stomp, crash, crash! _

"Ugh, urrgh!" Blood poured out of Ichika's mouth, making his face look blank. "Ugh... ar... ugh." He lies on the ground as if he just... lost... his... conscious... ness.

"Grooaar." The devil removed its foot on him.

"Orimura-kun!"

"Orimura! Orimura! Orimura! Ichika! Darn it!" Chifuyu jumped from the sides and head for her brother's location, "Darn you, darn you!" _Whoosh! Slice, slice! _

"Grooar!" She managed to damage the devil's neck, but...

"Grooaar, grooar."

"You are... you are... If it weren't for you... Ge," Turning to her brother, he's lifeless, it seems his bones have been battered, but he seems to be breathing still. "Ichika, Ichika!"

"Orimu!" "Orimura-kun!" Nohohon-san and the others tend to him.

"Sensei, what should we do?"

"Ge,"

"Grooar, grooaar, grooaar!" _Blaaze! _

"Wah!" The devil breathed fire at them, but Chifuyu blocked it with the sword, it seems to have an energy barrier that is similar to the Reiraku Byakuya, and it has fended off the attack.

"Sensei, Orimura-kun is..."

"Au... Ag... Agh..."

"Tch, Ichika, hey, Ichika!"

"Ugh... ugh..."

"Orimura-kun, hang in there!"

"Tch, darn it..." Chifuyu clunches her fist angrily, this is her second failure, she stands up.

"Sensei?"

"I will... I will..." Turning to the devil, "I will..."

"Grooar, grooar."

"I..." As for Ichika, he's in a state wherein his hearing sense is working pretty well, he can even hear the breathing of Nohohon-san and the others. "Am I... dead? No, I'm... I cannot... not... yet... Chi... Chi... Chifuyu...-nee, I... I..." _Sharp, _A seed... _Sharp! _Brilliant... of light... scattering... "...I... will... not... I... refuse to... surrender!" Ichika's eyes become blackish and...

"Grooaar, grooaar." With the devil facing Chifuyu, it's about to unleash another flame but...

"Gr," With Chifuyu holding her katana tightly, though right now it feels heavy for her due to...

"Grooar, grooaar!" _Slash, clash! _"Grooaar!"

...The Yukihira activated, the shield is at its maximum and... "Zero Sytem: Active, initializing main plot system: Recuperating initial system, overload, proper system active."

"I will... do... everything... that is... Zero... Infinite." With his eyes focused...

"Ah, I-Ichika."

"Orimu." "Orimura-kun."

"Huh?"

"Wha?"

"Hm?"

"Ichika?" Everyone turns to the sight where Ichika faces the dragon.

"Grooar, grooar." Right now, on the devil's sensor, it recognized the stance of the Byakushiki to be of that of the former unit that challenged it, though it was unable to defeat it that time, this time...

"I will destroy you... devil." _Slash! _

"Grooaar!"

"Hiya!" _Slice! _

"Grooaar!"

"Wah!"

"O-Orimu!"

"Orimura-kun!"

"Ichika." The witnesses stand at the sight of a white knight challenging a dragon, just like in the folktale.

"Grooaar!" _Pon, pon, pon. _Weapon pods emerged out of the devil's body. _Tsing, tsing, tsing! Boom, boom, boom! _

"Hm," Ichika activated Reiraku Byakuya, then the Barrier Void Attack to nullify the phaseshift armor of the dragon.

"Grooar," It becomes black in color, the phaseshift armor that is made of nanomachines all dissolve to the ground.

"Ssra,"

"Ssra." They all ceased functioning.

"Grooaar, groaar." Not taking the setback to be lightly, the devil launches forth the weapon pods it unleashed. _Tsing, tsing, tsing! Block, boom, boom! _Though that is all just in vain as the Barrier Void Attack is still in check, it didn't do any damage to the Byakushiki's barrier but... it only has a few energy meter left, one more of those and there will be nothing left, so... to put this in a grand attack, Ichika...

"Hm," _Pon, pon, pon. _He also unleashed the pods on the Byakushiki using the Zero System's unique system of paramount armaments. _Tsing, tsing, tsing, boom, boom! _

"Grooar!" _Boom! _

_"Grooar!" Boom!_

_"Ah~" Boom! _

"Wha- Ichika."

"Grooar," _Tsing, boom! _

"Wha- Ichika." Everyone turns to him as the pods linger in the field, destroying all the zombies and damaged IS.

"Grooaar, grooaar!"

"Ah~ Ah~" _Boom, BOOM, boom! _All the damaged IS are destroyed, along with the zombies, now there is only.

"Hm?"

"Huh?"

"Ichika." Now there's only Ichika and the devil.

"Grooar, groaar, grooaar! Grooaar!" Upset by the setbacks, _whoosh, whoosh! _The devil rose up from the field and fly above.

"Hm," _Whoosh, whoosh! _Ichika gave chase to it.

"Grooaar!" _Tsing, tsing! _Using the pods, the devil unleashed some number of laser beam to Ichika to halt his approach.

"Hm," _Block, boom! _With Barrier Void Attack still in effect, it was for none, but... the energy is running low, this must be... "This time, you won't get away!" With the claw of the Byakushiki intact, he clenches his fist tightly, this will be the final blow.

"Grooaar!" _Slanng! Swing! _Realizing that its in danger, atop the field where the sky can be seen, the devil drawed out a saber from its mouth and swing it towards Ichika. _Block, Slaang, Ssrriick! _The Barrier Void Attack repelled it. "Grooar!" _Tsing, Bang, bang, boom, blast, blast, BLAST! boom, boom, Boom! _It's pulling out all the stops, it doesn't seem to be relenting on its attacks and the sky is already filled with a lot of smoke that it's covering the entire battle that is taking place.

..At the student council room...

"President, we're in trouble!"

"I know, I'm watching things."

"Eh? But... Huh?"

"Hmhm, interesting boy."

"..." On the outer... well, through the window, the entire scene can be seen, Ichika battling the devil with the smoke covering the entire scenario.

"Oh, the smoke is covering it, how boring."

"Um president, you do realize that..."

"Ah I know, but I doubt I won't... well, I won't be needed there so just relax, he can handle it."

"Huh?"

...Back to the sky...

"Hiya!"

"Grooar!" _Bang, bang! boom, boom! _Unrelenting, the devil pulled out all of its fortress like armaments and continued firing non-stop, the sky is like a battlefield right now as if a clashing force is engaging battle with a fortress, Ichika is the clashing force and... "Grooar!" _Slang, Swing! _With another swing of the blade from its mouth, the devil was repelled again by the Barrier Void Attack but this time, it ended up that Ichika's energy meter is now only 1% so there's only one attack left... and that is...

"Hiya!" _Crunch, crack, clash! _

"Grooar!" Punching it on its cheek, Ichika used that as a balance jump for it to be aimed at... "Grooar," Turning its gaze on Ichika, it made a mistake as...

"Hiya, hiyaa!" _Whoosh... Whoosh! _Ignition boost maximum, Reiraku Byakuya intact, combined with that, Barrier Void Attack is activated for one final time.

"Grooar!" _Blast, blaast! boom, Boom! boom! _With the last resort, it fired through its mouth a beam particle, destroying the Barrier Void Attack attack but...

_Whoosh! _Emerging out of the smoke, "Hiyaa, gyaargh-!" _Crunch, crack, Crunnch, crack, CRACK! BROOCK-! _"Hiya! Guarh!"

"Grooaar, grooar, grooaar, Groaar, grooaar, GROOAAR-!" With a loud, anguish roar, the core of the dragon is damaged, it can no longer function properly. "Groar, groaar, grooar, Grooar, Grooar... GROOAAR!" _Boom, boom, boom... BOOM-! BOOM! BOOOM! _It exploded like a nuclear bomb, enough to cover the entire sky above anyway, and it was destroyed.

_Whoosh, whoosh. _"Hm," Ichika tried to manuever the Byakushiki as he cannot stop the velocity that is making him go through... _CRASH! _...the ground. "..." His eyes reverted back to normal.

"Ichika!" "Orimura-kun!" Everyone rushed up to him.

_Boom, boom, boom! Boom! _With that, the devil is damaged, beyond repair. "Grooar, groaar..." It slowly falls to the sea... _Splash! _"Groar." With that, it was drifted away, probably going to end up somewhere in the deep level of the sea where it will rust then eventually, ceased to exist.

...As for everyone... "Orimura!"

"Hm, hm... Hm, everyone."

"Uua." Everyone sighed of relief.

"Baka, what were you..."

"Sorry."

"Well, you're okay so, congratulations."

"Ah, ah." Rising up, the Byakushiki is quite in a bad condition. "Ah, I messed it up."

"Ma, it will be repaired, so... about the competition, since no one won, it will be... hm, class 1... won."

"Huh?"

"With all of you incapacitated," Turning to the injured students who are from class 2, it would seem that class 1 won.

"We... won." Houki said... then... "We... won, we... won, we won, we won! We won!"

"Yay! We won!"

"Hooray!"

"We win! We're the winners!"

"Oh man, I thought I was probably going to win, oh well, congratulations I- Huh?" Just as when Rin was about to congratulate Ichika,

"Ah, so... tired..." He fainted and fell on the ground.

"Orimura!"

"Don't worry, he's just exhausted, hurry up and prepare a stretcher."

"Hai, coming up!" Yamada-sensei runs for the medical room.

"Sensei, what should we..."

"Well, in this case..."

"..." Ichika is sounds asleep, with the devil gone... it'll probably return to normal, for everyone... the unrest will stop... and... it will mean... peace.

...Somewhere else...

"U, I knew it, Ikkun is the thing, yeah." Tabane sits in relax of what she just saw. "I knew the Seed Syndrome was the thing and Ikkun proved it."

That's it really, with the Seed as the next evolution of mankind, perhaps there will be yet bright future for everyone.

...As for the devil...

"..." It has no signs of functioning so, it's just quiet, lying on the sea floor.

Then a bunch of IS for underwater mission comes, they seem to be... recovering it, there's a certain symbol on one of the IS, M, it seems... this is... "Ha ha, take it with us."

"Hai."

End of Chapter 4

**Note: In a normal story, when the main antagonist has been destroyed, it would mean the end of the story, and Ichika just destroyed the Devil IS... but that was just its 1st shift, there's still the 2nd shift... then the third... then the fourth... then lastly, the fifth, it's far from over, this type of evolution is similar to the Devil Gundam's evolution, well that's it, the story will continue, oh, and about Cecilia, I apologize that she didn't appeared early, she will play a major role in the downfall of the Phantom Task, you should know she hasn't enrolled to IS academy yet, this first four chapters mark the end of the first arc in a way, the next four chapters will be about Laura, Cecilia and the downfall of the Phantom Task, there's also the Silver Gospel event, well that's it, I may take a long break, well, see ya.  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Infinite Stratos: Infinite Possibilities**

**Note: This is the second arc of sort, the main plots are as follow, Laura, Cecilia will join the main characters soon, the Phantom Task will reveal themselves, the Silver Gospel Incident and... the return of the Devil IS, it's now in its evolved form, as I mentioned, it's similar to the Devil Gundam from Gundam G as it continued to evolve after its first defeat, it will make a comeback at the next four chapters, one thing that I should tell you is that the Devil IS is the opposite of the White Knight, while the White Knight is more like a human attributed IS, the Devil is that of a beast, it's similar to how a knight is supposed to vanquish a dragon, the White Knight is a knight and the dragon is the Devil, which is similar to some tales, well, enough about that, enjoy.**

**Chapter 5: Valkyrie Trace System, An Unflinching Courage**

...At the Dunois Corporation headquarters...

"What! You're telling that no-good, insignificant daughter of mine has failed!"

"H-Hai, that's uh... that's what... The Devil IS was apparently destroyed by the one who is the only male pilot in the world and..."

_Slam! _"Darn it, and here I was... Geh, who got the unit?"

"What?"

"The unit, the Jehovah unit, surely the remaining parts remain."

"Ah, well..."

"Gather up the parts."

"Ah but..."

"Gather the parts!" _Slam! _I want the invincible IS to be at our grasp, and I will do so, even if it means resulting to desperate measures." _Zap!_

The lightning bolt that just struck didn't do any better for the employees of the Dunois Corporation, the head of it is becoming more and more paranoid, someone needs to deal with him. "J-Ja, I better... get to it."

...Inside a lab...

"What should we do? Mr. Dunois is becoming more and more obsessed with that Devil IS that has been destroyed now, we can't get our hands on it, it's been salvaged by the underground organization."

"Ah, if we dare step foot into their territory, we might as well be dead men."

"Right, more so, it seems the devil was just temporary..."

"Hm? What is it?"

"I don't know if this hypothesis is correct, it could be that this IS is similar to a god, it does not need any core supplying it with energy, in fact, most of its primary function is like they're not coming from any source of electricity, it's equipped with a lot of nanomachines that can send radioactive waves that can affect any individual within its premises."

"Ah, I have thought about that, those nanomachines can bring about some brain waves that can affect the psychological state of a person, if one stays near that thing, they might as well be driven insane by its influence of corruption."

"Hm, what should we do? Mr. Dunois will..."

_Cruck! _"Hey, I want that unit to be on our hands, no, those Phantom Task organization will not stop us from acquiring it, now get to it!"

"Ah..." Everyone is at loss at what to do, everyday, people are leaving the Dunois corporation due to the abusive power of the head of itself, now the scientists around here, who are reasonable people, reasonable enough that they can see the corruption of the head anyway, are starting to develop something like a plot to overthrow the corporation, perhaps with fear and power, they can do so.

...Meanwhile, at IS academy, at the field...

"..." In every war, whenever there is victory, there would be like a flag of victory, or even surrender, and those who are left standing would just howl or growl the word "victory!" or "Enemy dead at our feet!" but this is... just... well, perhaps it's no different but, the words being shouted... or to put it simply, being squealed at by the girls who are lined up for the so-called crowning of the medal of hero kind of thing is... or are...

"Orimura-kun!"

"Congratulations!"

"Congratulations!"

"Kyaah!"

"Wah!"

"This is a happy day!"

"Yeah!"

"..." Ichika stands above the stage where he is feeling... nostalgic, sort the least, he's being crowned a medal of sort, not the type of warhero medal but rather... a savior of the world since he apparently brought down the source of the unrest that is spreading all over the world, or it _was_ spreading all over the world, but now, the source, the Devil IS, has been brought down in front of a lot of people, the unrest has been stopped and now the world is at peace, so it's only natural to revere the one who brought it down to be a savior, well, as for the savior himself. "This is... This is..."

"Sa, I present to you, Orimura Ichika, the one who battled the catastrophe that was swarming all over the world, but now it has been put to rest thanks to his bravery and efforts, sa, Orimura, I present you this, the medal of the academy and treaty of the united nations."

"Yeah!"

As Chifuyu placed two medals on Ichika's uniform, both at the left and right, everyone started squealing louder, among the crowd is... "Hehe, Ichika, he sure is popular." Charles cannot help but giggle at this celebration, it's like someone has been crowned a hero or something, in France, there was like a warhero that led France to victory against Germany, though that was in the past world war, so casting that aside. "Ichika is so... hehe, cool."

"That Ichika, hmph, I guess I trained him way too much."

"Hehe, be thankful Ichika, it's thanks to me that you're on that stage right now, hehe, as reward for me, you'll have to uphold your promise to me!" Rin and Houki thought a boastful thought and a way to repay them for their so-called kindness, Ichika is demanded to uphold something that is the end of the bargain.

"..." He is by the way, bewildered by all this. "Guh, what's all this? It's only natural to bring down that devil whatsoever right? So, why am I...? Grr,"

"Hmhm," Chifuyu, being proud of her younger brother in a way, cannot help but giggles at his situation wherein he just thinks of this as natural, well, from his perspective anyway.

"Sa, everyone, to end this celebration, we'll thrown a halloween party for Orimura-kun to enjoy."

"Yeah!" As Yamada-sensei took over, the announcement of the coming halloween is announced, everyone is even more excited.

"That's three days from now right?"

"Ah, it'll be something where we can all..."

"It's that event where we all put costumes and dance around the courtyard and then we all do the bonfire event!"

"Yeah!" Nohohon-san and the others seem to be all familiar with this while...

"Guh, halloween party huh, hm, maybe, maybe I can visit that Gotanda family restaurant after this." Ichika made plans as that is discussed underway.

...At the hallway...

"..." _Tap, tap. _Ichika walks on the corridor with some girls tailing, with no shades or shadows whatsoever, they's visible on plain sight, in the army, this is the type of dare and dare, in which, who dares, wins, that's how it goes... or maybe it's just those with a lot of guts would say, or that they are just plain stupid to dare something like an armament that is capable of wiping out a tank, though that is a bit for another time, the real problem is...

"Hm, Orimu will have to choose a partner soon right?"

"Hm, at the halloween main event, someone will have to dance with him but, oh... I'm too... I'm too... I'm too young to ask..."

"No no, what if someone, well..."

"..." A lot of talking, they don't know how to hide their privacy in the ears of spies, like Ichika for one, and there's a certain bishoujo who is not pleased about all this speeches about making out during the middle of the night of the night of halloween wherein the bonfires will light the sign of affection of two people dancing in the middle of the crowd, and...

"Hmr... Ichika is popular, at this rate... no, I must be... I must be resilent!"

"Ichika!"

"Hm? Oh Rin, what's up? I'm on my way to-"

"Lunch right? It'll be my treat if you would... uh... ha ha."

"Hm?" Rin's odd behavior vexes Ichika a bit, after the class competition, class 1-1 has been regarded as the best class in the first year section while Ichika, who is the representative of class 1, is regarded as both their number one student and at the same time, the one who put an end to the unrest that is occurring to the world no longer, so he's rather highly recognized throughout the academy, even the seniors students are stopping by sometimes at class 1-1 just to get a look at him and how he would do... well, during his time when he was in the state of... well, Seed Syndrome would be the best way to describe such state, as in this state, Ichika's mind is quite resilient and does not falter as it focuses on whatever situation he is in and would do anything to help out his comrades in needs, but casting that aside...

"So what will it be? There's the rame of..."

Right speaking of Ramen, Ichika remembers the class trip that will be held soon, the destination will be London, where... well, they will have to practice speaking English since it's a foreign country and all, but that's not the problem, in terms of leaving a country, one must say farewell to those they have known, as a courtesy that they will return safe and of course, to ensure that they don't get worried sick about them, Ichika remembers his schedule to pay a visit to the Gotanda Eatery to say hello at least to both the Gotanda siblings and of course, the ones who are taking care of them like the noisy grandfather, the overprotective mother, it's a lively house that is full of hardworking people, you wouldn't miss the beautiful aroma of the one cooking all the ramen there, it's also full of good... well, other kind of food wherein all customers are quite attracted at the daughter there who is the next inheriter of the restaurant, Ichika would occasionally visit there to eat, to play, video games that is, Dan Gotanda, a fellow from his middle school days and he is sort of... envious, much to Ichika's wonder, about him being in "paradise" as he put it, though Ichika would sometimes just view this place, IS academy, as any other school institutions out there except in here, it's a one-man-army, one male and a whole lot of female... if it is even a war simulation that is, though that aside, Rin just offered a free ramen as reward for being hero, as she put it, and she, and the other participants in the class competition that time, were saved due to his bravery, Ichika has to thank himself that he has the Seed Syndrome, which is still a mystery of how he going into that state, though he would speculate it's just something that would occur by himself, though there were times that he was able to activate it by himself by his own will, as far as he can understand it, it's something wherein you will feel like you know what you should do and shouldn't hesitate to help out others, that and many admirable trait would just pass on to him like a bunch of sensitive nerve were all gathering together, making the spinal cord more and more adaptable in gathering information to your brain from your heart but all this aside, all the thinking brushed all the thoughts that were circling around Ichika's head as he head for the cafeteria along with everyone, he ate alongside Rin and a distant and silent Houki.

"It's that boy, the one who brought down that Devil IS."

"Ah, it's also the representative of class 1."

"Oh, so that's what he looks like, he looks kinda cool."

"Ah." Ichika could at least remind these girls that their conversations are not private anymore, considering almost half, no, the whole cafeteria is echoing with their conversation that it's making him the center of attention of everyone's starea and attention for that matter, so this kind of situation is either enviable or maybe pitiful, depending on the individual's perspective.

"You sure are popular Ichika, must be nice." Rin is sounding like she is displeased with all of this talking about how great Orimura-kun in handling that and how cool he is there, and all that sort of topic about Ichika, the center of everyone's attention, not that he did something wrong but this kind of atmosphere is like a bunch of boots are walking towards you for whatever purpose that is, flirting, talking, which is about sweet things or who knows what and maybe even caring something a part of your body, but that's not something that should be not the one that should be the most concerning thing here, it's about...

"Huh? What is it? Why do you...?"

"Nothing, anyway, from now on I'm going to train the same way as Shinonono, got it? Meet me after school at the field." At that word, Rin left.

"Eh? Wha...?"

"Ne, Orimur, you're going to need something to wear at the halloween festival soon right?"

"Eh? Wha...?" Nohohon-san and her two other friends approached. "S-Something... to wear?"

"Hmhm, something that you will be wearing, it mostly consist of something like a tuxedo or maybe a dress for all of us but, you can also wear something like..." Talk about fashion is elaborated further, Ichika now knows about the upcoming halloween festival, does this mean everyone is expected to wear something that can catch the eye? Well, either that or maybe Nohohon-san will wear the exact sleeveless, again, by "sleeveless", meaning it's not being used, the sleeves that is, dress and use it as her costume for the halloween party, and maybe everyone will do the same, some hallowee parties are like that, with the coming of November, it's starting to get snowy outside, the temperature rapidly drop, this time of year for every country should be the one where everyone will have to prepare for the holy day, Christmas, that's coming up soon, so this halloween party is just one party before the grand one.

"Uh, so you're saying, I'm going to have to..."

"Hai, you best find something suitable to wear at the shopping mall at town."

"And we could come with you if you can't choose."

"Hai, hai." These are the reply of these three, at this moment...

_Slam! _"Ichika, come with me."

"Eh?" Houki came about and slammed on the table, catching everyone's attention. "H-Houki? Wha- H-Hey, don't pull- Stop pulling!"

"Urusai, just follow me!"

"Wa- Shinonono-san is making the first move!"

"Wa, how sneaky!"

"Orimura-kun!" It seems Houki won a competition or something, not exactly the same as the class competition, which they won by the way, the whole class of class 1 that is, but this seems to be something both personal and private, she leads Ichika to somewhere in the hall, with who knows what she has in mind, well, they're childhood friends so... it should be something that can be considered decent right...?

"Alright, alright, Houki, you can stop pulling now."

"No, it has to be somewhere we can talk private."

"Huh? But, wha-"

"Urusai, just come along!"

"H-Hai!"

Somewhere where there is no one else around, Houki and Ichika have a serious conversation here, or at least, it's something that is not for the prying ears to ear, that and some of those who would eavesdrop, like Nohohon-san and some other two girls creeping in the shadows. "Well? What did you want to talk about?"

"Hm, well, you... you know of the upcoming class competition with the German representative right?"

"Huh? We... have... a..."

"Oh, the German competition."

"I know that, it's where a bunch of Germans will challenge us this month as a way to learn of each other's culture in battle, I heard we'll be participating."

"Hm, hm." The three whisper that as they heard that information from Houki, who is still conversing to Ichika about some personal matters, like...

"Huh? So, what about this competition?"

"W-Well, if we win... I'll be leading us again soon so... if we win... you'll have to take me out on a date!"

"...Huh?"

"Huh?" Both Ichika and the three girls stand bewildered at that, a date as a reward huh, that's... unique in some way.

...At class 1-1...

"Hey, did you hear the rumor?"

"About what?"

"The upcoming German competition, it's where those German candidate and her accomplices will challenge us." Right, since they are foreign people, the class is quite not... well, hospitable towards them, specifically...

...At the hallway...

"That Houki, go out huh? Well, for old times sake, I guess I should spend some time with her a bit, we haven't seen each other for six years after all." Ichika roams in the hallway, with his hands together above his back, at the backneck that is, and he's about to go to the class since it's about to end, the lunchtime that is, then... a new face popped up. "Huh?" Silver hair, red eyes, an eyepatch, and... sort of modified uniform for female, this one is a girl by the way. "You..."

"Hm?" Two faces met, and... "Hm, imbecile." She approaches him... and... _Slap! _

"Gua!"

"Hmph, I don't recognize your existence. Hmph."

"Huh? Hey, what was that for?" _Sharp! _"Huh?" _Sharp, sharp! _A seed... being sliced in half... and... a... brilliant of light... scattering. "..." Ichika's eyes become black a bit, and his stare is on the silver hair woman who just walked away after giving him a slap, he touches the spot that has become red due to the slap, it brings about a slight pain considering that her strength seems to be extend that of a normal human, in fact... she seems to be... well, materialized in some aspect that she seems to be well-manufacted, as in well manufactured, but not in the way she is multiplied, but rather, there are others in her kind, like...

"Wow, so this is Japan, hm, as well as expected, it's good."

"Yeah!" A bunch of girls in eyepatches walk down the hallway.

"..." Ichika figured that he could be out of place if he is seen, so he hides at the rest room, that is specifically intended just for him, seeing that he's the only male in this place, and the fact that everyone goes in the same restroom, he could have this for himself, like it's a special reservation of sort. But all that aside, it seems these are the German representatives, or maybe there is just one of them, like Ichika is the class representative of class 1, Ichika took a peek, all of them seems to be... intrigued in a way that they're admiring everything they see around here, they must be those who love Japan so much that they left their own country, presuming of course, if that is their cause in the first place, so to find out, one must see with one's own eyes... Ichika just spotted Chifuyu, his older sister, talking with that silver hair woman.

"Instructor, I've been meaning to-"

"Get back with the rest of the German squad, your place is with them."

"But, you're the only one who-" _Slap! _"Guh!"

"Huh?" Ichika observed them, and the woman got slapped by Chifuyu, perhaps out of frustration. "This is..." Ichika figured he should involve himself with something that relates to his older sister, like this one for instance.

"Ins... tructor?"

"I got something I need to do and I don't need you to talk me down to it, don't go talking back to me otherwise about this girl, now go."

"I... Ge, darn it."

"..." Perhaps that was the payback Ichika was willing to take, to be slapped by his own older sister, who is a former champion of the Mondo Grosso, and is said to have instructed a few girls out there, mostly IS pilots, and have been revered by them as a role model and a charismatic leader, though again, she would just say they were exaggerating about her, as for Ichika... "Chifuyu-nee, you really are something huh."

"Instructor, it's because of that... that... that imbecile, I'm going to... I'm going to..." She takes of her eye patch, revealing a bit of eye color that does not match the one on her right, but rather, it's yellowish, oddly that it seems to be something tha is improving her vision and to some instances, her own pace and movement. "Orimura Ichika, I'll make you... a non-existent. This, I swear."

"..." Ichika had heard enough so he walked away. "That girl, hm, I better do something."

_Tap, tap. _"Hm?" Ichika passed by Charles, who is on her or "his" way to the classroom. "Ichika? Huh?" Then that woman in silver walked pass the same hallway. "Wha...?" She glances at her direction, is she... following... Ichika? "Who..." Curious about this, she follows while ignoring the fact that Chifuyu just entered the class.

"Alright, sit down, I'll intoduce you to some foreigners."

"Yay!"

"Be quiet! This isn't some pleasure exchanging culture vulture thing," Right, a vulture is something or someone who rob those that have already been looted, while this one... not that Germany has any intention of robbing Japan of their culture, in fact, the girls with eye patches are more than willing to learn more about their culture from top to bottom, so they are like the "vulture" group in a way. "Now then, let's- Huh?" It is then that Chifuyu noticed something amidst, and so did the rest of the class.

"Hm? Hey, where's Orimura-kun?"

"Charles-kun isn't here too." A commotion rose up.

"Uh, everyone, please quiet down." Yamada-sensei tried to calm down the uproar of sort.

"Ichika," Chifuyu looked outside beyond the door, could it be... when she left that former disciple... she... "..."

"Hey, where's Bodewig?"

"Hm? Huh? She's... not here?"

"Huh? What is... Where did she go? Wasn't she with us a while ago." _Slide. _"Hm?"

"Hm?" Everyone has noticed that Chifuyu left the classroom.

"O-Orimura-sensei?"

...At the hallway...

"Darn it, that troublesome girl, what is she..."

...At another part of the academy, at the hallway that leads to the nearby courtyard...

"..." _Tap, tap. _There has been a race, of sort, in which the racers are Ichika and that girl who has an eye patch, she seems to be someone unwilling to give up on this chase, Ichika, in his Seed Syndrome state at the moment, knows when to get away from a monster that is on a rampage on a hallway where there is no one and there is only one way forward, but that's the problem, in a horror movie, this is like the just setting in which the victim is running for their lives and when they have reached the dead end, it's over, all over, speaking of over...

"Hm, hm, imbecile, I will not recognize your existence, ever, not while I draw breath!" An angry ghost girl is on the loose, this is like the scene in which she's tailing a man she's... well, skipping the sort of childish part, this is like the scene wherein the ghost, the predator, has finally cornered her victim, Ichika, who... "Hiya!" Catching a sight of him on his back, he's about to... With her IS deployed, she's about to... "Hiya!"

_Block! _"That's dangerous you know." Ichika managed to deploy a part of his IS and blocked that of her own, his eyes are quite serious at the moment and they are blackish due to the Seed Syndrome.

_Tap, tap. _"Huh? I-Ichika?" Charles came across the two of them. "Ichika, what are you...?"

"You imbecile, you're the reason... you're the reason... you're the reason I've been robbed out of the most qualified, dignified instructor of my life!" _Cruunch! Clash! _"She's all I have, the only one who could instruct me!" _Clash, clash! _"You took her from me, you and your pathetic capability of unable to protect yourself, not even your own personal well, worthless, being!" _Claash! _Personal and insulting words are being thrown at a time as Ichika continued to block every of her brutal assault and as soon as she gave the last hit, her entire IS has been deployed, this is an unavoidable battle.

"So you won't relent on me?" Ichika is on a verge of deploying his own IS, he just dismissed the arm and tries to reason one... last... "Ja, what are you-"

"Hiya!" _Blast, boom! _

"Ah!" The girl just fired at the corridor, destroying the wall intersection of a building. Charles covered from the explosion as it was so loud and it created an impact that alarmed some of people nearby, including...

...At the other hallway...

"That damn girl, what the heck is she..." Chifuyu is on the run.

...Back to the scene...

"Ichika, you..."

"You imbecile, you will suffer my own wrath of vengeance, prepare yourself."

"Hm, it seems you are unwilling to relent, so..." Deploying a partial of his IS... "If it's a fight you want, I will..." _Flash! _Then the entire model of Byakushiki is deployed, this is now war... "Give it all at best to you."

"Hmph, let's see if you do." Unleashing the eye patch that is covering a different eye color, the IS of hers seem to respond to that, the capacity has been ten times become durable and at this kind of rate, it's easy to perform versatile movements and it's easy to outmanuever an opponent through sheer speed and and through a tactical movement or attack, they could be easily be defeated with a lot of various manuevers that involve tearing apart every part of an IS like... "Sa, let's go, hiyaa!" _Slip, whip! _She sent out tentacles that have daggers on them, this type of weaponry can demolish an IS piece by piece and can do so with a short amount of time if the one who is being targetted is not careful.

"Hmph," Being in a state of the Seed Syndrome, Ichika quickly thought of a way to negate this attack and... _Block, block! _

"Ichika!" Charles, who couldn't bare to watch anymore, decided to come out in hiding and... "Ichika, I'll... I'll... I'll help you out!" Letting out the IS that is in its Closed Form, in which it take the form of a pendant around her neck, she decided to help out Ichika. _Flash! _"Hm, uwah!"

"Huh? You-" _Slam! Crunch-! _"Wah!" Before Laura could react, she was blown to the side, Charles knows this girl, the German representative, one who is known to be very strong and firm to her beliefs and principles as a soldier, being that her entire life is all about the training she has endured under her superiors and that her instructor is none other than Chifuyu Orimura himself, the older sister of Ichika Orimura, who she blames for why she's no longer with her favorite, and revered god-like, instructor, she's also quite an insensitive human being, being that she was raised in the way of soldiers would behave and act, she's also been denied of an happy normal girl, in which she was a test-tube baby that is only raised in the army without even experiencing the outside world, in which it is bright and full of possible futures, in such case, she uses... "You, worthless scum, get out of my way!" Activating a hidden compartment of her IS, Valkyrie Trace System is activated, this is an illegal part of an IS, but Laura... is having special treatment of sort, she didn't know what this part is but it's aiding her in her battles by...

"Valkyrie Trace System: On, analyzing enemy movement." A sort of interface is shown, this is analyzing the opponent's thoughts, it's like reading their minds in other words, but...

"Hm, I will... never... be... on the shadows on you simpletons!" _Whoosh! _On a blind rage, which is the side effect of the Valkyrie Trace System, she goes on to charge at the head of the corridor, towards Ichika, who... "Hiya!"

"Hm," Not really going on offense, Ichika decided to improvise defense to defend himself, to that end, he just activated the Barrier Void Attack to nullify the effect of the effective force that she's using, then with a clenched fist... "Too slow." _Stunk! Crunch! _

"Ge!" She got hit on one of her side, making a crunching sound like a metal being bent.

"Hiya!" _Strike! _Then another punch on the Schwarzer Regen, she is pushed away.

"Bastard, argh!" A rail gun mounted from the shoulder of the Schwarzer, it's aimed at Ichika. "Argh!" _Blast! _

"Ichika!"

"Hm," _Whoosh, boom! _With a quick reflex, Ichika was able to dodge it by simply moving a bit to the side then raising his neck upward, causing the corridor up ahead to be dismantled in many ways, it's full of cracks and holes now, this is certainly vandalism when it comes to school rules.

"Ge, imbecile."

"Hey, you're going to destroy everything if you don't stop," Charles rushed forward with the intent to make her pay for all the damages. "Hiya!"

"Hm?" _Claash! _Both have clashed with CQC weapons, Laura is that of a beam saber while Charles has the Bread Slicer, both are trying to overpower one another but with the Valkyrie Trace System still in effect, Laura's rage and prowess are not stopping, this is something she considers her specialty without really knowing of the hidden compartment in her Is, she does consider this as a soldier instinct though as she may get benefit in using it, it's no different than a wild animal being on the loose but to a soldier, he would do anything to get rid of their assigned targets, so... "Imbecile, you French don't know a thing or two to mess with third generation IS." _Clash! _Laura broke off the clash and pushed Charles away.

"Hmph, I heard Germans are too restrict with their own prowess that they don't even know that they have reach their own limits, hiya!" She tries to clash with her again but... _Block, block! _"Ah."

"Hmph, you are less superior," A shield, AIC or Active Inertia Canceller in other terms, is activated, this negated Charles's assault on her.

"Wha-"

"Hmph, sa, let us see how you-"

"You got two enemies you know."

"Huh?" A voice from behind...

"Hiya!" _Strike! Crunch! Crack! _

"Guar!" _Crack! _Ichika saved Charles from being hit in a brutal way that French men were slaughtered during the war where the entire world was at stake, millions died and Germany mostly did all the nuclear armaments that set the world on fire, with the French being outmatched, but with help from Japan, French can overcome such adversaries through united treaties, but all this aside, Laura is sent flying to the wall and left a crack on it. "Gu, imbecile."

"Stop at this instance!"

"Eh?"

"Eh? W-O-Orimura-sensei..."

"Chifuyu-nee." The seed syndrome subsided.

"Hmph, I should have figured this would happen, you have a lot to repay for for all these damages girl," Chifuyu grabbed Laura with sheer, brute force.

"Instructor, I-" _Slap! _"Ah!" _Strike! _"Gu," _Strike! _"Arg!" With some brutal punches and a slap, Chifuyu made an example out of Laura on what happens to undisciplined students, in the army field, it would take about... well, every fiber of one's being to be disciplined in the army so that they may not question their beliefs or the motive of their mission, that and they may get themselves to medic immediately if one is not careful, that and many casualties are dealt with either dismissal to the army or being sentenced to death. "Ugrh, instructor."

"You have a lot to pay for girl, now, take her away."

"Hai, sorry for the trouble, excuse me." A bunch of girls with eyepatches took Laura away.

"Chifuyu-nee."

"And you," _Strike! _

"Ow!"

"Call me Orimura-sensei, and you, Dunois," Now she's involved... or "he" is involved.

"Eh? I..."

"Ah, she has- I mean, he has nothing to do with this, leave him out of this." Ichika stepped forward between them.

"I-Ichika, I-I mean, Orimura-kun, I..."

"Why are you defending him?"

"I... Well, anyway, he hasn't started this, if you're gonna blame someone, blame me."

"..." This is how a gentleman works, chivalry, gentle, respect and all that, as expected from Chifuyu's strict discipline in treating females, she instructed Ichika to be, at no matter situation and no matter the cost, that he would be respectful and chivalrous to the opposite gender, and he has that habit of his even if he has not been disciplined to, it's one of Ichika's greatest strength and principle, and... "Ichika, you..." ...and attracting affection for him, even if he himself does not acknowledge it, even if... well, he does acknowledge that they are closed to him but not more than that, but all this aside...

"Hmph, just don't do a fight here in the hall, Bodewig was the one who started it right?"

"Hai, I... Um, I'm sorry, I should..."

"Hmph, I'll deal with her, undeploy your IS and return to class, I'll be there soon enough."

"H-Hai, okay, ja, Charles, let's go."

"H-Hai, okay." They hold hands. "Ah, Ichika, your hand..." This is a scene wherein little red riding hood is being escorted by... well, Ichika or... well, nevermind, Ichika and Charles, real name Charlotte, are heading for class 1-1. "Ichika, your hand... so... warm." A warm atmosphere in the air... or love.

...At class 1-1...

"Ichika! Are you alright? You weren't hurt did you?" News of the conflict spread faster than flies and everyone gathered around Ichika in front, Houki just asked a question.

"Uh yeah, I'm fine."

"But Orimura-kun, you have a slight burn on your neck."

"Hm? Oh uh yeah, I got... well, I tried to dodge the..."

"Anyway, why didn't you tell me? I could have help you."

"Ah well, Houki, you see I... it's... it's nothing to be worry about, I'm used to getting beaten anyway." RIght, from both Chifuyu and Houki herself, it's either because something awkward occurred or Ichika mispronounced the word or name "Orimura-sensei" to his older sister, but...

"What do you mean you're used to getting beat up!"

"Eh? Uh well, you always beat me up with a katana whenever I do something awkward and you would occasionally punch me on the face."

"..." Houki is both dumbstruck and guilt-ridden at that, even though she's worried, she's also the cause of such intrivial things to Ichika, like bruises, both mental and physical pain, both due to a awkward atmosphere in which Ichika would feel embarrassed, the damage to the mentality, then pain afterwards, the damage to the physical, that and many other more like... well, during IS manuever practice... it's more damage on the mental than the physical, but enough about all this, Ichika just blurted out something that made Houki's spirit down.

"Uh, Houki?"

"..." No respond.

'Maybe I said too much."

"Ichika!"

"Hm? Ah, Rin, wha-"

"What was that? I heard you got attacked by that german representative." She immediately leaned over to his desk and ask that, and she has both an anxious and worried expression about her, both are radically the same expression except they are making Ichika frown at her for suddenly leaning into him like it's a close intercouse of two genders, a man and a female seemingly... well...

"Eh? Uh..."

"Um, L-Ling-san, please, I-Orimura-kun can't breathe."

"Eh?" 'I can breathe just fine."

"Oh uh, okay, ja, I guess I'm too precious for him to look upon." Though Rin said that boastfully, Charles could not help but interject between them, out of concern for a friend or... "Well anyway, I heard you got attacked, what did that german representative did to you?"

"Uh well..."

"That's enough, everyone, get back to your seats, Fann, get back to your class." Chifuyu returned with the handful of foreigners, along with the representative, Laura Bodewig, the one who attacked both Charles and Ichika earlier, and Yamada-sensei has to lead the rest of the girls in eyepatch.

"Hey, it's him, the hero of the world."

"Huh? Ah, yeah it's him!"

"Orimura Ichika right?"

"..." Ichika could hear clearly the gossip of the girls in front, being really the one who brought down the Devil IS earned him a reputation that would not be soon forgotten by a lot of people since by putting down the beast, the crops and other kind of plantation can grow again and famine will no longer plague the world, the nations are at peace and global reception are at direct orders of directors. But that's not the problem, the real problem is... "Guh, it's her."

Right, it's Laura Bodewig, she's in front, ready to... whatever she plans to do in this place. "Hm?"

"Hm," Both of them met eye to eye.

"...Bastard."

"..." He didn't heard her, but she probably said something indecent to address him, Rin just passed by the door after giving a glance towards the german representative and a glare too in fact, then she immediately leave due to a glare from Chifuyu, the instructor of class 1-1.

"Sa, everyone, these are the german students who will be participating at the upcoming class competition to provide you with some combat basic manuevers for proper prowess in training of both fighting and training in the field, please get along well with them."

"Yeah!" Though everyone is enthuastic, Ichika feels like the glaring contest with the german representative could shake the entire classroom at any moment, in fact, is she even barely containing her resentment towards him? This could get nasty, if it's not settled soon that is, and the only way to do that...

"Alright, since you are all eager to get this over with, by the next course of the days, all of you will be teaming up once again, class 1 will be holding the banner to upcoming tour to London, if you guys are gonna be role models, you best show that you can become one, Orimura,"

"H-Hai?"

"You will be the leading unit again," At that mention, everyone goes all like in a dreamily sigh or something else that girls does in their nature, Ichika seems to be the center of that to be precise. "so I expect you to lead the class in such a manner like you did the other time, though I expect you to be less careless next time." Right, she's referring to the time where he almost got splatted, sort to speak, by the devil when he confronted it, it's very protective of its armor, the one that is consisting of nanomachines, but all that is gone and have come passing by, so all that he needs to worry about is...

"Hm,"

"Hm," Both he and Laura share a glaring contest again.

"Sa, that's all for the introduction, try to get along well with these germans, try not also kill each other before the competition, specially..." Giving Laura a glare, she grabs her head with sheer strength as a sign of showing discipline.

"Ah,"

"I expect to turn off that blasted system of your IS that you claim to make you go uncontrollable." Though that is still a secret, Chifuyu concluded that Laura goes berserk whenever she activates the part of her IS that is not known to anyone yet, Chifuyu ordered an investigation squad to investigate the matter, in the mean time, she could only restraint this representative from killing others who seem deem to be only obstacles in her way, and...

"Sa, Orimura, as accustom to the school rules, I'm going to have to give you a special training this afternoon."

"Eh?" As Chifuyu let go of Laura, Ichika is given a new schedule. "M-Me?"

"That's right."

"Huh? But instructor, he-"

"Urusai! Be quiet and stay in line, Harfouch, I'll leave this spoiled girl into your hands."

"Hai, understood, Bodewig, control yourself, we don't want to give Germany a bad reputation." As Laura seems to be distraught that Chifuyu would rather spend time with her own younger brother, Ichika cannot help but be curious as just what manner of relationship she has with her anyway, as if the being of disciple and instructor wasn't enough, perhaps Chifuyu has done something that made Laura and other girls out there revered her as a role model or more, to the extend that they seem to be treating her like a goddess, in the classroom case, all the girls seem to admire Chifuyu despite her strict personalities and would even call her "Onee-sama", if that would even make sense, Ichika is rather the only one who revered her as at least a person who is worthy of privacy and... well, as she says it, those kind of people are only exaggerating things, though it's not in their perspective.

"Sa, that's all, Yamada, lead on."

"Hai, sa, let us discuss about..."

"_Sigh, _training with Chifuyu-nee huh?"

"Hm?"

"Ge," Chifuyu seems to have heard that "-nee" part so...

"Uh, I..." _Strike! _"Guh!"

"That's Orimura-sensei."

"Hai, Orimura... -sen... sei." He lies his head on the desk as the attendance book is still fresh in his mind as it made an impact on his forehead.

...Later, at the field...

"Uh Chifuyu-nee, why am I..."

"Orimura-sensei is what you should call me."

"...Hai, Orimura-sensei, so why are you..."

"You do know once we reach London, you will be given some dispentional duties to perform in front of a lot of many crowd right?"

"Eh?" 'Since when did that get decided?'

"As representive of class 1, you are required to do so, unless you want the public to start tearing out the media in order to study you, you might as well give them what they want to appease them at least."

"But, how do I-"

"Be quiet, we'll start now, shrug that thought from your mind, it will only distract you from the training session."

"Uh yeah, well..."

"Geh, that imbecile, instructor, you..." Amidst the two Orimuras, Laura watches from the bushes, this is like snooping but to her, her favorite and revered instructor is currently being stolen from her, once in across time, or that was at least, partially when Chifuyu was still a competitor for the Mondo Grosso championship, she was going to win yet again but there was an urgent news that drove Chifuyu to draw back and Laura saw it as being stolen of sort, though perhaps due to her time in the army that she has become sort of pessimistic abou life and people or even perhaps a slight nihilism in her, in which she begun to sort of become insane due to some... well, in the hidden compartment, unbeknownst to Laura, there is a slight... no, a big parasite that tends to eat the dignity of individual who would be... well, in some aspect, Laura can be seen as a poor soul that is longing for something to save her from her predicament, though as of now she views such view as a weakness due to the influence of that parasite, as...

"Alright, sa, prepare yourself." With a wooden sword, in check, Ichika with the Byakushiki deployed, Chifuyu is about to start the hellish training session.

"Ah wait, Chifuy- I mean, Orimura-sensei, I-" _Sharp! _"Huh?" _Sharp, Sharp! _A seed... being sliced in half... and... a... brilliant of light... scattering, Ichika's eyes become blackish. "..." Mentality at its best, and...

"Hey, what are you- Huh?"

"Hm, okay, ja, I'm ready."

"..." Chifuyu noticed that his eyes are focused, not the same as she sees in him everday. 'Seed Syndrome, geh, Ichika, of all the people... why you...? If you are the... Geh," Becoming less focused, the tip of the wooden sword is lessened upon the grip.

"Chifuyu-nee, oh, I mean Orimura-sensei, you can start now."

"..." Taking a stance, "Hiya!"

"Hm," Taking that as a signal, _clash, clash! _The two begun the training session.

"..." As Laura watched, this remind her of her days with Chifuyu, as a goddess that would lead her to salvation, she would gladly follow her everywhere and do what she intends of her, including... including... doing something to release her from her shell, as she can see it, she... "Gr," Clenching her fist, she cannot bear this sight anymore, why? Because unlike her, this imbecile is spending a fun time with her beloved instructor, not that... no, she is quite nihilistic about her view, and this nihilistic view is only fueling her desire so... "Gr," Barely containing herself, she unleashes the arm of Schwarzer Regen, a third generation IS, one that is revered as one of the best in all generations, though unlike the fourth generations, it's quite resilient in many ways that it relies on the strength of the wielder and does require something like CQC armaments for it facilitate the strength of the manueverer and... "Imbecile, I will..."

_Whoosh! _"Hiya!" At this point, "You can come out now!" _Whoosh, whoosh, slash! _Ichika throwed the Yukihira at the bushes, revealing Laura.

"Who the? You, girl, what are you-"

"Hiya!" Without even heeding Chifuyu's words, she started marching towards Ichika with her IS deployed, then... "Hm,"

"Valkyrie Trace System: On. Initializing combat manuever." All sort of unstoppable, destructive start to run down on Laura's spine, the system is showing all sort of systematic approaches towards the...

"Hiya!"

"You spoiled child, how-"

_Block! _"Hm!" Ichika has to use the Reiraku Byakuya in order to avoid being pin down to the ground by that relentless assault, it's like he just stopped a boulder from rolling down the hill of a mountain or just a hill. "Hn,"

"Gruar, huarg! Stay away from instructor!"

"Hm!" _Clash, clash, clash! _The two of them clashed with both saber beams with Ichika using the Yukihira, then the two of them fly overhead and clashed with each other some more, _Clash, clash, clash! _"What is the matter with you? I'm about to find out, so just stay still! Hiya!" With the Zero System activated, all sort of vital signs like movements, the intent of the pilot and something that is not normally seen with the naked eye is shown. "Hm?" Ichika detect something like... a nanomachine inside the Schwarzer Regen, it seems to be... at its core. _Crunch, Clash! _Ichika clashed fist with Laura.

"Ha ha," When in terms of strength, Ichika would be no match for someone like her, but due to the state of the Seed Syndrome, Ichika knows too well the limit of his body and his enhance thinking and reflexive movements should be enough to overpower her in many ways, the Zero system is also showing some signs that might indicate her next movement, this is sort of like looking at the future, then acting upon it, though are not necessarily signs of what is to come, these signs can indicate how unique the system is, it does not necessarily mean that they are set in stone, but rather, they are not really what is the future that is to come but rather, they are the what will probably occur next, the system can inacting in many ways that it can indicate the future, so this type of system can normally drive a normal person insane or at least, the system has its own security that it requires someone to have the Seed Syndrome so that they may not suffer some penalties in looking into the future, as looking into such things require an individual to be vigilant, honest and truthful, right now, Ichika is seeing the next steps of Laura. "You're mine, ha ha." Clenching her fist, "Uwa!" _Slash, slash, slash! _

"Hm," Ichika has to move away from her to dodge all the wires with daggers attached to them, this are like dodging the tentacles of an octopus that you are about to slice up, speaking of slicing... "Hn," _Slash, slash, slash, block, block. _Ichika swung the Yukihira Type 2 to avoid the tentacles from coming in contact with his Byakushiki. "Hn," Then one wire caught up to the left arm of the IS, forcing Ichika to be pulled.

"Hmph, I got you now!"

"..." Not that Ichika unexpectingly predicted this but... the reason why he's not agitated is because...

"Haha-" _Strike! _"Argh!"

_Whoosh, blaasstch! _Ichika has to use some energy black particle to avoid ramming the Schwarzer Regen along with Chifuyu, who just hit Laura on the head with a large wooden katana, this was what she was going to use with Ichika during the training so... "You interrupted me for the last time, I hope you're prepared for this."

"Chifuyu-nee." The Seed Syndrome has passed.

"Orimura, leave us."

"H-Hai." Not really comfortable with this kind of situation, Ichika volunteered to leave. As soon as he reached the nearby hallway, he started to walk away but...

_Strike! _"Ge!"

"How many times must I tell you? Don't intervine in my affair, this is not something like a child like you can understand."

"But instructor, all of this people are not worthy to be with you, they're beyond your status and I'm the only one who can be-" _Strike! _"Ge!"

"That's enough, if you continue this I'm gonna berate you further of your imperfection, and believe me girl, bring this up one more time and you will have hell to pay, now go, you wasted the training session in check."

"..." Laura reluctantly left.

"...What was that about?" Ichika goes back to his room as he wonders that aloud.

...At the dormitory...

"I wonder what that Laura person's problem is, is she... connected with Chufuyu-nee? She's like..." _Keplunk. _Opening the door to room 1025... "Hm?"

"Hm? W-I-Ichika!"

"Eh! C-Charles, what are you-"

"Ah, p-please, close the door quickly!"

"Eh? Uh, guah!"

"Hm?" A lot of residents heard some screaming so they came out of the doors and check the hallway to be empty. "Hm, hmhm." Accepting it was nothing, they return to their dormitories.

"_Huff, huff. _That was close." Meanwhile, at room 1025...

"Uh, Ch-Charlotte, it's touching you know..."

"Eh?" Looking at her chest, her breast... "Wa... W-Waah!" She backed away from Ichika. "Ichika no ecchi."

"Hey, how come it came to that!" One thing to be certain in this scene, Ichika came in to see Charlotte changing, then he saw some green underwears like bra and panties, it would seem she was going to change into her uniform after showering and the wetness around her body is proof of that.

...Later...

"Well, have you made your decision?" The two drink some tea as they discuss about things, Ichika has just changed into his sleeping ware while Charlotte or Charles wear a sort of jogging suit as in to cover her... body, sort the least, right now, they're discussing about what is Charlotte's plans for the future, regarding her family and her desire. Regarding that, it's not like she's in danger of being abducted by some agents from an unknown corporation, except the Dunois corporation that is known throughout France as the only manufacturing IS company there, and the possibility that they might invade this place under outside jurisdiction of the Alaska treaty, that and many aggressors out there might get thrown in prison for their aggressive approach in the academy, but that's not the problem right now.

"Ah, hai, I... Ne, Ichika, can I ask something?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"Well, how do I put this, my mother... she died when I was about... well, it was at the time when I started to operate an IS, my mother died due to illness and my father... even though he received the will of my mother saying I'm his legitimate daughter, after that... he did nothing for my well-being, I was abused by a bunch of adults and was never to have a normal life, things like operations and missions were all that concerned me, Laura-san's IS and that of yours were all that concern me at the moment."

"Wha...? Did you... contacted them?"

"Hai, I... well, father wasn't happy about how long I've been staying here, I think he might make a move and I will be forced to either leave or stay, if I stay... the entire academy will be at risk, with father's paranoia getting more anxious, it will likely he will do something harsh and the entire academy might pay for it, so... I better..."

"Then I'll do something." This is one of the times Ichika can be serious, either it's about personal or something that is trivial to this situation, even something like he has to take down about a group of people, mostly the ones he can handle, he would do it if it means making a girl happy, that is his nature that is the way he acts and that's just the way he is.

"Eh?"

"If your father would step foot here, I'll..." Facing the other way for a while... "I will... I will take you away from him Charlotte!"

"Ichika..."

"Hm, I swear on it."

"..."

"..." Serious stare, this is like "Oh Princess, I'll take you away from here, come with me to a place far far away." kind of way, and Ichika seems intent on keeping Charlotte's father from taking her and driving her away from this place, where she can finally live her own life, hell, perhaps Ichika will take her with him and go to live together, if that is possible that is, and Chifuyu wouldn't mind her younger brother taking... well... "Ha ha, you don't have to.. .take it... seriously... Ichika, I..."

"No, I do take it seriously, if you can't choose then... then... rely on me, I'll make the decisions for you."

"Eh?"

"If you cannot take the first step, you can cling on to me, you need to start relying on others Charlotte, everyone cannot stand up without support from others, me and the others will help, me and Chifuyu-nee... we were... abandoned, we couldn't... we had to live for ourselves, Chifuyu-nee has been taking care of me, and... I need to... Hm," Thinking of his own usefullness, perhaps Ichika... as the seed that illuminates the truth to all... including...

"Ah," The princess, Charlotte, who is in disarray of her path of choosing can see the true path in this young man, who will lead mankind to further evolution, meaning a bright future. "Hm, haha."

"Hm? C... Charlotte?"

"Hm, haha, you're too... kind Ichika, I... Hmhm." Standing up, "Ichika."

"H-Hai?"

"Arigatou, I haven't... heard anyone... saying that..."

"Eh?" She's crying, but not out of sadness, but rather... it's a joy of bliss, being in a state where one can enjoy the joy of living, and proud to everything that is at this point. "Uh, C-Charlotte, I..." Fearing that he may have made her sad, but...

"Arigatou!"

"Eh? Eh?" Two large question marks at her action, a joyful hug that is that of a goddess, or at least that's how Ichika would put it, is like being blessed with fortune. "Uh, Charlotte..." Returning the hug with a pat on the back...

_Knock, knock. _"Ichika, are you in there? It's Houki."

"...!" Both are alarmed to that voice.

"Ichika, may I come in?" _Knock, knock. _

Ichika gently pushes Charlotte to the void to cover her, to pretend at least that she's sick, that could work, or so he hopes. "Uh Houki, can you... wait for a few second." These past weeks, Ichika has been roomed together with Charlotte since she is disguised as a male at the moment and since no one can guess what might happen to sort of random luck thing event in this room, no one bothered to check so...

"Ichika? What are you...?" Opening the door, Houki is... "Hm?"

"Oh Houki, sorry, I was just fixing Charles's bed, he's... sick, kinda."

"_Cough, cough. _Yeah, I got a, _cough, cough. _flu."

"Is that so? Well, anyway, Ichika, come with me for a bit, that guy should be capable of handling himself right?"

"Eh? But..."

"Hurry up!"

"H-Hai, ja, Charles, I'll... uh, I'll be... I'll be right back with your dinner."

"H-Hai, arigatou." As soon as the door shut. "Ichika is...?" Charlotte or Charles wonder on what is the relationship with Houki relating Ichika.

...At the hallway...

"Alright, alright, I'll go just... let... go... of..."

"Huh? What is it?"

"Your... b-breast are..."

"Hm?" Looking at her chest, she's holding his arm right... at... the... chest... and... "G-Guah! H-Hentai!" _Strike! _

"Ge! Ow, hey."

"D-Don't take advantage of the situation!"

"I didn't... really, anyway, I'm going, I have to..."

"Eh? W-Wait, I got something to..."

"Hm? What is it? I'm busy, Charles is..."

"No, it has to be now!"

"Eh?"

"Ichika I... Um, it's... how should I... It's... um, about my harsh treatment..."

"Eh?" She's probably referring about how she keeps hitting him with a wooden sword such as a katana, a... well, all types of sword so... It's about an apology, making amends for one's actions and... "What are you..."

"Like I said, I..."

"Ichika!"

Another voice. "Hm? Rin?"

"Ichika, I'm hungry, let's for some ramen, you treat me okay? Consider that as payment for going easy on you on your training." Right, at occasional times, Rin and Houki would provide training regiment for Ichika, mostly some of the kendo members would like to spar with him, as if to get along with the one who has defeated the Devil IS and saved the world, and to some extent... flirt with him but, that's not the case here, Rin is being unreasonable at some circumtances, during training regimen, Rin would test Ichika's mettle and they would battle at the field to see who is best, normally, Ichika can beat the Shenlong with the Byakushiki's condition but the problem is, he still lacks some manuevering techniques, and the seed syndrome would not come to his aid, it only comes when things are dire, in any situation, or that Fate itself decided to intervine.

"Huh? Since when did this came from?"

"I beat you last time, so you'll have to treat me."

"Hey, I asked him first so back off Chinese girl."

"Huh? Since when did that samurai girl ever set foot without any sword in arm in the cafeteria huh?"

"What?" A glaring contest with the image of a tiger and a dragon echoing, or rather, their roar are echoing and Ichika, with a unique sense, can hear or even see it.

"Huh? Hey, did I... see something like..."

"Anyway," Both take Ichika's arm. Both arms in fact.

"It's only natural to be escorted by a man right, so only one can get to walk here."

"Y-You do that, I'll... A-Anyway, I asked Ichika first, so you just go along there."

"Eh, what's up? Don't have the mettle to challenge me?"

"What?"

"H-Hey, it's just a walk to the cafeteria, three people can get crowded here!" As the bickering continues, the three went to the cafeteria, catching the attention of the other people, most would just look at Ichika due to his reputation that defines him as world savior right now due to the feat of bringing down the Devil IS just about some time ago, they are looking with envy.

"Wa, so good."

"This is what it means to be hugged on both sides I guess."

"What, with personal IS? That's too sneaky!"

"What, with personal childhood friend? That's too sneaky!"

"Hm?" Ichika sort of noticed everyone's expression as if they just want to charge in and order something with them, him, Houki and Rin that is.

"Hey, one cup of ramen please!"

"I'll have a... let's see, um... P-Pasta, yeah." Not really minding what food she ordered, Houki just picked random.

"I'll have uh..."

"Hey, about this, it looks good Ichika."

"No way, he'll need..." Not really minding his own choice of food, he let the two girls choose for him.

...Later, at room 1025...

_Knock, knock. _"I'm back." Ichika said with a tired tone as he comes in.

"Oh, welcome back, um, did something... happened?" Charlotte is here, still lying on the bed.

"It's... a long, tiring story, just... let's just eat okay?"

"Oh okay, ja, ge." Charlotte spotted two chopsticks, not exactly her own cultural way of eating but... "Hm, hm." Speaking of which, she's not used to using chopsticks, that's the main problem, the other problem is showing this sort of expression to Ichika might...

"Hm? Hey, can't you use the chopsticks?"

"Eh, I... I can use them, I..."

"If you can't use them, here, I'll feed you."

"Eh?"

"Ja, how about this... fish first, here, ah." An "Ahh" situation, feeding each other that is, Ichika is the only one doing it though.

"Ah." This is like treating a princess, such is the way and code of chivalrous person. "Hm, ahh."

"Ahh." That's one. "Alright, here's anothe one, ah."

"Ahh." There's the the second... then a third one... This lively dinner continues while it rains outside...

...At the field...

"Orimura Ichika, I will... make you..." A certain silver hair is drenched from the rain as she has no problem of making herself vulnerable to the weather tonight. "a non-existent." With her eyepatch being taken off from her left eye, a yellowish color linger. This is a sign of war and... conflict that can end... in... death.

...In the bathroom...

"_Sigh, _I did it again." Houki takes a shower along with the other kendo members, it started raining outside and the water is quite cold so it's quite a comfortable feeling, some of her troubled feelings are being washed away from the flowing water from the shower, concerning Ichika, "Ichika gets beat up by me and I'm... _sigh, _I'm always ending up in a frustrated situation and let out my anger out of nowhere, _sigh, _I haven't changed huh, just like... just like..." Remembering the times where Ichika pulled her out of trouble, she gets angry at herself for being reckless, she understands what it means to be a weak person, like a person who cannot defend themselves become victims of negativity, they become bitter and corrupted, that's how the nature of the world, if no one out there can shed some light of enlightenment, one will become vulnerable to the deception around the environment and one will eventually be succumbed by the corruption of the world, that and many other more. "_Sigh, _I wish I would stop giving him more problems, but... _Sigh, _I'm really are a weak person." Looking at herself on the mirror, she could see a bishoujo girl who has a fragile heart that can be easily caught insecured and her insecurities frustrates her to some degree that perhaps she should just not involve herself with Ichika, that's one of the reason why she avoided Ichika during his first day here and she does feel guilty for giving him more problem as it is, that and many other more complicated trouble. "_Sigh, _I better go apologize to him."

"Ah Shinonono, I got something I like to speak to you about."

"Hm? What is it?"

...The next day, at the field...

It's about the class competition with the more skilled and experienced german from their own homecountry, their representative, Laura, is more attentive than ever, this will be a real fight as the ones they will fight are real soldiers, despite how young they are, they can overtake a situation lightly and deal with any opponents swiftly, the class 1 are all here line up, and Ichika and Charles are considered to be the main assets of the group as they are the only ones who have personal IS, Houki will be again the one doing all the tactical thinking and along with the kendo members, they will be the front lines once again, the others will be from the flank and deal with any stragglers that might take advantage of the front line kendo members, on the german's side, it's Laura who will be the main asset, the rest will deal with the rookies, sort to speak, as the students of class 1 are all just beginners, they think they cannot possible overcome them in terms of combat and their tactical strategy, Clarissa Harfouch will be the tactical leader for the germans, Laura will be the main weapon that will break through the flank and win the battle, their biggest threat is Ichika, and the other one, Charles, will be dealt with by some of the more experienced IS users in their group, and Laura... she has a thirst that can be quenched when she sees the one who took her beloved instructor, Chifuyu, dead at her feet, and her laughing at his cold corpse in the battlefield that awaits. "Yosh, everyone, line up, take in mind that this will be a real battle experience for all of you, this isn't like the same as your battle with class 2, if you dare fail this, then you might as well give up your dream to be the number one class in the whole first year, if you win this, which I doubt you guys could accomplish with such a small feat, then you will be treated with a grand special treat this coming halloween."

"Yay!"

"Alright, let's win this, just like before!"

"Ah, let's, let's!"

"Hm, this will be just like last time."

"Hm, Orimura-kun will lead us to victory!"

"Ug, I... am... Ug," Ichika lowered his head, this again, it's not the first time he tried to defend the honor of these girls, this is like the second time now, not that he was not expecting this, as he has spend his time with these girls, he knows too well that they are very hyperactive when it comes to things about... well, mostly about him, which still confuse him at this point, and the things like winning the competition with Orimura-kun that, and then there's that something related to Orimura-kun that and many other more.

"Let's win this, Ichika."

"Huh? Oh uh, yeah, let's."

"Hehe." Charles is at "his" good mood today, "he" seems to have something excited in mind, not the normal way but... "Hehe, Ichika will protect me... Ichika will... hmhm," Like a girl giggling at girlish and lovely thoughts, she's in La-la land right now, "if we fight together again, I..."

"Yabe, everyone is expecting much from me again, how am I... supposed to..."

"Alright, everybody line up."

"This is it, if these kids truly learned, they should have no problem in dealing with these veterans."

"Hai, we shall see then." Chifuyu and Yamada-sensei are once again at the side, monitoring the entire field.

'Hopefully that girl...' Regarding Laura, she's more dedicated than the other germans here to see the entire class of class 1 be decimated with only Ichika being the last one standing so that she may embarrassed him in front of many and see that she's the real deal, for Chifuyu that is, and to perhaps let out her anger or rage towards someone who took her beloved instructor away, she's very dedicated at that cause.

"Laura, are you listening? I'm discussing our plans here."

"I'm fine, where's Clarissa?"

"She's discussing things with the others, you should join us."

"Hmph, I'm only interested in bringing down that no good non-existent individual within these group of simpletons."

"Ah, oh well, just... stay put." Not really understanding Laura's words, they decided to leave her be as they know she can go on a blind rage whenever she is frustrated.

'Orimura Ichika, you're about to... experience... hell." With the left eye glowing, she swore on that.

"Alright, ja, everybody ready, alright, ready, get set... now, fight!" With the sound of some "pop" going about, that signals the beginning of the fight.

"Hiya!"

"Huaah!" The front lines started running towards each other.

"Yosh, now, fire!"

"Hai!" _Bang, bang! _Houki gave the command as the flank side started to rain down on the ones on the front lines of the german sides.

"Yosh, that is to be expected, now, interceptors, intercede them!" _Bang, bang! _

_Boom, boom! _"Ah." The class 1 are in awe as their plan backfired, as expected from the veterans, they know too well on how to handle a battle, they just blow away the attacks of the ones in the flank and thus, the front line attackers are safe while...

"Now, those in the flank, intercede those front line units."

"Hai!" _Bang, bang! _

"Ge, oh no."

"We're in trouble."

"Yabe," _Flash, flash. _"Huh?" One arm of Byakushiki emanates. "This is..."

Flashback...

"Orimura."

"Hm? What is it, Chifu-" _Strike! _"Gu, ow."

"Orimura-sensei is what you should call me, anyway, take this, it should prove useful in your upcoming battle."

"Eh? This is?"

"It's a part for an IS, it should help you should the situation escalate to the level of difficulty, sa, good luck."

"Ah, wait I... Huh? What is this anyway?"

End of flashback...

"This is?" Ichika pushed the part that was given to him by Chifuyu, this one is... _Shaaroopttch! _"Eh, A-Ah!" An energy field is casted.

"Wa!"

"Ah!" Both groups are taken by surprise.

"What the..." Ichika himself doesn't know what it is but... _Srk, srk, boom, boom! _All the attacks of the ones in the flank side of the german are all jammed, making them useless, so the front line kendo members are safe. "Uh, I..."

"Ichika, you did it!"

"Orimura!"

"Eh? I uh..."

"Ge, curse it." Not standing for the setback, Laura lifted her IS, _Whoosh! _Then she charged forward.

"Hm? Hey, Bodewig, where are you- Now's not the time yet!"

"I can handle this, Clarissa, you handle our squadmates."

"Hey, Bodewig, Bodewig!"

"Ah, Orimura-sensei, look."

"Hm?"

_Whoosh! _"Grruaarh!"

"Tch, that girl." Laura charged forth towards the forces of class 1, this time she's not hesitating. "Someone needs to teach her a lesson." Turning to Ichika, "Ichika, be cautious with her."

"If there's anyone who is going to take down Orimura Ichika, it's me, I will..." Her left eye glows, giving her more control of her IS and the Valkyrie Trace system now being on line.

"Valkyrie Trace system: On, initializing enemy movements." With that, all sort of instincts would run down on Laura, giving her aggressive behaviours as she sees the patterns on the screen interface to be something to wipe off from the face of the battlefield.

"Hiyaa!" With her IS glowing, _whoosh, Crrach! Crunch! Crack! _

"Wa!"

"Ah!"

"Wuah!" Both the front lines of the opposing side and that of class 1 are all decimated, not all of them, but most of them were shocked at the damage that they lost the will to step in.

"What the?" Houki prepares to fire from the flank, or rather give the signal to fire, but all of them are in awe that she took down most of their elites.

_Whoosh! _"Orimura Ichika!" With one target, she goes directly to him.

"Hey, Bodewig, halt!"

"That girl,"

"Orimura-sensei, she's..."

"Geh, I should have known..."

"Ichika, look out!"

"Ge," Too late for reactions.

"Hiyaa!" _Cranch! Crunch! _

"Guh," _Sliddee! Crunch! _"Gurgh!" Ichika is sent sliding towards the wall, making the part of Byakushiki behind to be bent like iron, this caused some minimal system error on the interface, and the problem is that it caused Byakushiki some energy that needs to be spend. "Arg, yabe."

"Ichika!" "Orimura!"

"Ichika! Tch, you." Not appreciating that, Charles went ahead. "Hiya!"

"Hm!" _Clash, clash! _"You."

"You won't get away with that!" _Clash! _WIth the Gray Scale intact, she uses this to batter the front part of the Schwarzer Regen, but...

"Hmph, don't overestimate your luck French, now pulverize!" _Blaast... _With a rail gun charging, the intended target is the Raphael-Revive Custom II. _Blast! _

"Hiya!" _Boom! _Using the Gray Scale, Charles managed to penetrate through the blast and head straight to ram down the Schwarzer Regen, a third generation IS that is good for its negation field that can incapacitate some IS in the area and is good at decimating enemies with short time amount, it's good also at using knives at its primary CQC weapon as well as long ranged weapon as Laura is pretty good at manuevering them through the wire that connect them. _Clash! Clash! Block! _"Ge," As soon as Charles managed to get close to Laura, the AIC, or Active Inertia Canceller, is activated, preventing her from going forward. "Greh, urgh."

"Dunois, let me help, this is for Ichika you bitch! Hiya!" Using only a Practice IS, Houki charged forth.

"Hey, what are we supposed to do?"

"Well, the others are still..." _Boom! _"Gyah!" _Boom! _

_Bang, bang! _While the others, such as Charles, Houki and Ichika, who is still down at the moment, are focused on dealing with Laura, the others must focus on the other germans on the field. "Take them down, don't let them have the advantage!"

"Hai!" With the girls with eye patches taking the battle, it would seem that class 1 will suffer defeat here.

"Geh, we better do our part."

"Hm, let's."

"Alright, ja, for Orimura-kun and class 1, let's go!"

"Yeah!" _Bang, bang! Boom, boom, boom! _The battle is still on, with the front lines decimated, both sides that is, by Laura, the flank lines and some of the struggling kendo members and other front line units took the battle on the sides with either side being injured or getting pin down on the ground and they can't take it anymore, the others are focusing on the ammunitions and other supplies they need in this battle, whoever loses all the ammunitions first loses and they will likely have the disadvantage as they can only fight back with a short amount of supplies. _Boom, boom! Blast, blast! _Gunshots and beam particles are being fired all over the field, making this clearly a battleground.

...Inside the student council office...

"Hm, it's starting again."

"Hm, you think they will win again?"

"Well, considering how that boy managed to defeat the bad guy the other day, maybe?"

"You refer to Orimura Ichika?"

"Well, maybe, well, let's see."

Back to the field...

_Boom! _"Guh, ugh." With the ensuing chaos continue, Ichika managed to regain his composure after having a hard bump on the head earlier when Laura crashed down around him. "Ug, my head."

"Orimura, you're up, hurry, we need-" _Boom! _"Gyah!"

_Boom! _"Uwaah!"

"Hm? Everyone, you..."

_Clash, clash, clash! _"Hiya!" _Clash! _

"Hiyaa!" _Clash! _

"Hmph, imbeciles, you have no strength to beat me, so why don't you just cower in fear." Laura mocked both Charles and Houki as they continue to brawl with her.

"Urusai!"

"Hiya!" _Claash! Srraak! _Both didn't relent however, as they continue their clash with the third generation IS user. _Clash, clash! _So far Houki managed to keep her busy will all the CQC attacks while Charles would go straight in and delivery a mighty blow.

"Houki! Charles! Ge, I'm coming!" _Whoosh! _Ichika joins the battle.

"Hmph, bastard, you're the one I'm after, get lost!" _Clash, slash, slash! _

"Guah!"

"Urgh!" Both Houki and Charles are blown away by the storm of knives with wires that are unleashed, _draag, draag... Crash, crash! _

"Ugrgh!" "Ugh!" Both of them are thrown to the side, making a crater on the wall.

"Houki! Charles! Why you... You're going down!" That was the last straw, Ichika charged forth after she dragged the two with the wires attached to their IS and then she brutally throwed them to the sides and they received the same bump on the head as he did, this was the last straw for Ichika indeed. "Hiyaa!" He charged forward with a brute force that might be enough to infiltrate her negation field.

"Hmph, simpleton, die!" _Block! Crash! Ssrrk! _

"Grr," With some electric shock emanating, the shield couldn't last long as Ichika's fist, as well as Byakushiki's claw, seem to have broken the limit energy of the Schwarzer Regen.

"Ge," Realizing this, Laura decided to go all out. "Very well, if it's a brutal carnage you seek, I will... give you, a mighty brutal fight! Hiyaa!" With the Valkyrie Trace system at its fullest, Laura's IS glowed, signifying that it's now on a kamekaze state in which whatever stands it its way will be pulverized in a second and those that are near it will be pulverized as well. "Sa, here I go!" _Whoosh, whoosh! _

"Guh, yabe!" Realizing the danger, Ichika decided to play safe by activating the Reiraku Byakuya but this will have little effect as the attack itself is physical and... _Crash! Craash! Crash! CRASH! _"Guaargh!"

"Arrgh!"

"Uwa, O-Orimura-kun!"

"Orimu!"

"Orimura-kun!"

"Ugh, ag, I-Ichika."

"Guh, I-Ichika." Both Charles and Houki recovered from the crash.

"Ichika!"

"Arrgh!" Laura is continuing non-stop at battering the front of Byakushiki and it's only a matter of time before it goes completely destroyed. "Arrgh!"

"Guah! Argh, urgh!"

"O-Orimura-kun! Orimura-sensei, what should we..."

"Ge, that girl..." Even the instructors couldn't let this continue, this was a friendly cultural competition, not a massacre or murder so... "Bodewig, relent your attack, this fight is over, germany won!"

"Eh? Is... that so? Alrigh, ja, everyone, relent your attack." At Clarissa's order, everyone relented at the beaten and battered units of Class 1.

"Ah, we lost."

"Ah, but... we did our best."

"Ah, it's enough, but..."

_Ssrak, Crash! _"Arrgh!" Laura isn't stopping still.

"Ur, Urgh, Guaargh!" And Ichika is almost going to be...

"Ichika!"

"Orimura!" "Orimu!"

"Orimura-kun! Orimura-sensei!"

"Bodewig, stop this! The match is settled!"

"Hey, Bodewig calm down, you need to calm yourself!"

"German representative Laura, stand down, it's already setled!"

"Arrgh, more... more... more... Arrgh!" She's not stopping.

"Artillery, malfunction... not... system... over... over..." The interface couldn't even interpret the system's state, it's about to... _ssraak. _With the warning sign on the screen, Byakushiki is about to...

"Urrgh!"

"Orimura!"

"Ichika!"

"Orimura-kun!" "Orimura!"

"Gerg, Bodewig, stop!" Chifuyu rushed forward.

"Dammit, Bodewig, I command you stop, immediately, the match is settled, we won already!" Then Clarissa, Laura's superior, stepped forward as this was not part of the culture exchange here.

"Arrgh!" As for Laura... "This is... this is..." _Pin. _"Hm?" Something is wrong... _Pin, pin. _Like a warning sound, the system of the Valkyrie Trace system is about to...

"Ssra."

"Huh?" A nanomachine... it's worm like and...

"Ssra."

"System error, does not... com... pute... over... load... over... loa... diinngg..." _Ssrkk, ssrk. _Sparks are emanating from the interface and... _Flash. _With a golden light...

"W-This is..." _Flash. _"A-Ah! Arrgh!" Laura finally relent.

"Guh! Auh!" Ichika is freed from being crashed on the wall, the crater is now so deeped in the wall.

"Orimura!" "Ichika!" The entire class of class 1 get to tend to him.

"Urwa, I'm... safe... I... Huh?" Turning to Laura.

"Argh, argh... argh... aarrgh. Arrgh, Arrgh-!" Something is wrong, she's going wildly, as if... as if...

"Hey, Bodewig, what are you doing, stop-"

"Argh, argh-!" Her IS is going uncontrollable, it's... "Argh, ARRGH, Argh!"

"Hey, Harfouch, what's going on?"

"I... I don't know, Bodewig, calm yourself."

Inside Laura's mind right now... "Ssra, ssra." A worm like nanomachine is spreading a motion wave that is corrupting and driving Laura insane as images of the past, when she was in a test tube and how the adults would say mean things like she's only existed to fight battles and never have a normal life as a girl, then there's the images of the training in boot camp, Chifuyu training her, then turning her back on her and how she... how she...

"Aurgh, aurgh, stop, stop!" Then images of her being blown to pieces by Houki and Charles are shown, this is perhaps showing her of the "bad" endings for her, as the Valkyrie Trace system seems to be going berserk that it's showing all these images and this is like inputting fear on the individual, this is enough to drive to the point of... "Stop, stop..." With the last image, Ichika overpowering her, she finally... "AUUGGHRRGH!" _Blast, boom, boom, Boom, BOOM! _

"Argh!"

"Uwaa!"

"Ah!"

"Gyaah!"

"Kyaah!" Everyone is blown away as Laura's IS suddenly bursted out in explosion.

"Ge, what's happening?"

"I, I don't know, hey, Bodewig, stop it, stop whatever you're... uck..." Chifuyu and Clarissa are in awe of what is in front of them. "Tha..."

"Grooa, grooaar!" A large mech, that is resembling Chifuyu's own fighting style in terms of IS is there, it seems to be...

"Wha... What the..."

"A..." Everyone is speechless.

"L-Laura?"

"Bodewig?"

"Groaar, grooar, grooaar!" This large mech that resembles a Practice IS with a long katana, it seems to be the result of the Valkyrie Trace system going out of control and it begun to feed the negative side of the user, Laura, and it transformed into this, she's inside it, slumbering, with fear driving her to further... delusion... and...

"Hey, Bodewig, what are you..."

"Grooa, grooaar, grooaarr!" _Blast, boom, Boom! _

"Waah!"

"Ah!"

"Uwa!"

"Uwa, uwaah!" Everyone is blown away, now what will happen?

End of Chapter 5

**Note: Take note that the Valkyrie Trace system in this story is similar to the Zero System of Gundam wing, it's not similar to the one that is in Byakushiki, this one is very similar with the Zero System in gundam wing, in which it can drive the user insane, similar to how the Zero System drives people insane by showing them something that is the "bad" result of any given situation, the next chapter is the trip to London, but not before they rescue Laura of course, so I hope you will enjoy, I'm also thinking of taking a break for a while, if you guys want me to speed up by update, send me some reviews and I might get empowered to finish the rest of the chapters quickly, if not, that's fine, I'm working on another story of Infinite Stratos in my case, and I guess I should rely on my own judgement should none submit a review, well, we will see again, or meet I guess, sorry, I'm quite tired right now to right coherent words, well, see ya, and I hope you enjoy this.**


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